diff --git a/Gruntfile.js b/Gruntfile.js
index 71312e60..4ff9df7f 100644
--- a/Gruntfile.js
+++ b/Gruntfile.js
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ module.exports = function(grunt) {
         src: 'test/*.js',
         options: {
           reporter: 'dot',
-        }
+          require: require.resolve('./test/helpers/use-english.js'),
+        },
       },
       'unit-xml': {
         src: 'test/*.js',
diff --git a/test/helpers/use-english.js b/test/helpers/use-english.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d5c81a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/use-english.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+'use strict';
+
+var env = process.env;
+
+// delete any user-provided language settings
+delete env.LC_ALL;
+delete env.LC_MESSAGES;
+delete env.LANG;
+delete env.LANGUAGE;
+delete env.STRONGLOOP_GLOBALIZE_APP_LANGUAGE;
diff --git a/test/mocha.opts b/test/mocha.opts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d836338
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mocha.opts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+--require ./test/helpers/use-english