diff --git a/converter.go b/converter.go
index 2a40706..d0fc04f 100644
--- a/converter.go
+++ b/converter.go
@@ -6,11 +6,21 @@ package iconv
 #cgo windows LDFLAGS: -liconv
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <iconv.h>
+#include <locale.h>
+
+// called by init, seems to be necessary for TRANSLIT to work
+void initLocale() {
+	setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+}
 */
 import "C"
 import "syscall"
 import "unsafe"
 
+func init() {
+	C.initLocale()
+}
+
 type Converter struct {
 	context C.iconv_t
 	open    bool