diff --git a/tools/check-po.sh b/tools/check-po.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c9b0d55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/check-po.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+FIND_DIRS=${*:-"."}
+
+find $FIND_DIRS -type f \( -name '*.po' -o -name '*.pot' \) -print0 | \
+while read -r -d '' FILE; do
+  msgfmt --check-format -o /dev/null "$FILE"
+done
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 35dce2d..aef5c3e 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ whitelist_externals =
 [testenv:pep8]
 commands =
   flake8
-  bash -c "find {toxinidir} -type f \( -name '*.po' -o -name '*.pot' \) -print0 | xargs -0 -n1 --no-run-if-empty msgfmt --check-format -o /dev/null"
+  bash {toxinidir}/tools/check-po.sh {toxinidir}/doc {toxinidir}/glossary
   python {toxinidir}/tools/check_yaml_file.py {toxinidir}/tools/zanata/translation_team.yaml
   bash {toxinidir}/tools/check-zanata-users-list.sh
 whitelist_externals = bash