diff --git a/include/wx/uilocale.h b/include/wx/uilocale.h
index 216619068b..77b9d82abd 100644
--- a/include/wx/uilocale.h
+++ b/include/wx/uilocale.h
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ public:
     // Create the object corresponding to the given locale.
     explicit wxUILocale(const wxLocaleIdent& localeId);
 
+    // Check if the locale is actually supported by the current system: if it's
+    // not supported, the other functions will behave as for the "C" locale.
+    bool IsSupported() const;
+
     // Get the platform-dependent name of the current locale.
     wxString GetName() const;
 
diff --git a/interface/wx/uilocale.h b/interface/wx/uilocale.h
index 3f722722d9..65d24ec01e 100644
--- a/interface/wx/uilocale.h
+++ b/interface/wx/uilocale.h
@@ -156,6 +156,17 @@ public:
      */
     wxString GetInfo(wxLocaleInfo index,
                      wxLocaleCategory cat = wxLOCALE_CAT_DEFAULT) const;
+
+    /**
+        Return true if locale is supported on the current system.
+
+        If this function returns @a false, the other functions of this class,
+        such as GetInfo() and CompareStrings(), behave as in "C" locale, i.e.
+        it's still safe to call them, but their results don't reflect the rules
+        for the locale in question, but just use the default (i.e. US English)
+        conventions.
+     */
+    bool IsSupported() const;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/common/uilocale.cpp b/src/common/uilocale.cpp
index ef360fb42e..6bf54e6710 100644
--- a/src/common/uilocale.cpp
+++ b/src/common/uilocale.cpp
@@ -116,6 +116,11 @@ void wxUILocale::SetImpl(wxUILocaleImpl* impl)
     m_impl = impl;
 }
 
+bool wxUILocale::IsSupported() const
+{
+    return m_impl != NULL;
+}
+
 wxString wxUILocale::GetName() const
 {
     if ( !m_impl )
diff --git a/src/osx/core/uilocale.mm b/src/osx/core/uilocale.mm
index 501ffa0b6e..e70d72050c 100644
--- a/src/osx/core/uilocale.mm
+++ b/src/osx/core/uilocale.mm
@@ -80,8 +80,17 @@ public:
 
     static wxUILocaleImplCF* Create(const wxLocaleIdent& locId)
     {
-        CFLocaleRef cfloc = CFLocaleCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault,
-                                           wxCFStringRef(locId.GetName()));
+        // Surprisingly, CFLocaleCreate() always succeeds, even for completely
+        // invalid strings, so we need to check if the name is actually in the
+        // list of the supported locales ourselves.
+        static wxCFRef<CFArrayRef>
+            all = CFLocaleCopyAvailableLocaleIdentifiers();
+
+        wxCFStringRef cfName(locId.GetName());
+        if ( !CFArrayContainsValue(all, CFRangeMake(0, CFArrayGetCount(all)), cfName) )
+            return NULL;
+
+        CFLocaleRef cfloc = CFLocaleCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, cfName);
         if ( !cfloc )
             return NULL;
 
diff --git a/tests/intl/intltest.cpp b/tests/intl/intltest.cpp
index 4400834a59..350965643e 100644
--- a/tests/intl/intltest.cpp
+++ b/tests/intl/intltest.cpp
@@ -240,6 +240,13 @@ TEST_CASE("wxLocale::Default", "[locale]")
 
 #endif // wxUSE_UNICODE
 
+TEST_CASE("wxUILocale::IsSupported", "[uilocale]")
+{
+    CHECK( wxUILocale("en").IsSupported() );
+    CHECK( wxUILocale(wxLocaleIdent("fr").Region("FR")).IsSupported() );
+    CHECK( !wxUILocale("bloordyblop").IsSupported() );
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("wxUILocale::GetInfo", "[uilocale]")
 {
     CHECK( wxUILocale("en").GetInfo(wxLOCALE_DECIMAL_POINT) == "." );