diff --git a/config/initializers/30-redmine.rb b/config/initializers/30-redmine.rb
index cd5b20b70..708dcd655 100644
--- a/config/initializers/30-redmine.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/30-redmine.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 I18n.default_locale = 'en'
+# Adds fallback to default locale for untranslated strings
+I18n::Backend::Simple.send(:include, I18n::Backend::Fallbacks)
 
 require 'redmine'
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/redmine/i18n_test.rb b/test/unit/lib/redmine/i18n_test.rb
index 80e0b509f..5bb69c9a5 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/redmine/i18n_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/lib/redmine/i18n_test.rb
@@ -109,4 +109,18 @@ class Redmine::I18nTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     
     to_test.each {|lang, expected| assert_equal expected, find_language(lang)}
   end
+  
+  def test_fallback
+    ::I18n.backend.store_translations(:en, {:untranslated => "Untranslated string"})
+    ::I18n.locale = 'en'
+    assert_equal "Untranslated string", l(:untranslated)
+    ::I18n.locale = 'fr'
+    assert_equal "Untranslated string", l(:untranslated)
+    
+    ::I18n.backend.store_translations(:fr, {:untranslated => "Pas de traduction"})
+    ::I18n.locale = 'en'
+    assert_equal "Untranslated string", l(:untranslated)
+    ::I18n.locale = 'fr'
+    assert_equal "Pas de traduction", l(:untranslated)
+  end
 end