diff --git a/include/wx/intl.h b/include/wx/intl.h
index 5347ebf0de..c784562899 100644
--- a/include/wx/intl.h
+++ b/include/wx/intl.h
@@ -520,6 +520,8 @@ private:
 
     bool           m_bConvertEncoding;
 
+    bool           m_initialized;
+
     static wxLanguageInfoArray *ms_languagesDB;
 
     DECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(wxLocale)
diff --git a/src/common/intl.cpp b/src/common/intl.cpp
index 0bbad0de46..753dfcb11e 100644
--- a/src/common/intl.cpp
+++ b/src/common/intl.cpp
@@ -1369,6 +1369,7 @@ wxLocale::wxLocale()
   m_pszOldLocale = NULL;
   m_pMsgCat = NULL;
   m_language = wxLANGUAGE_UNKNOWN;
+  m_initialized = false;
 }
 
 // NB: this function has (desired) side effect of changing current locale
@@ -1378,6 +1379,10 @@ bool wxLocale::Init(const wxChar *szName,
                     bool        bLoadDefault,
                     bool        bConvertEncoding)
 {
+  wxASSERT_MSG( !m_initialized,
+                _T("you can't call wxLocale::Init more than once") );
+  
+  m_initialized = true;
   m_strLocale = szName;
   m_strShort = szShort;
   m_bConvertEncoding = bConvertEncoding;