diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index aa5e070d69..65d647a24e 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ deps = -r{toxinidir}/requirements.txt
 commands =
   python setup.py testr --slowest --testr-args='{posargs}'
 
+whitelist_externals = bash
+
 [tox:jenkins]
 downloadcache = ~/cache/pip
 
@@ -19,6 +21,8 @@ downloadcache = ~/cache/pip
 commands =
   flake8 {posargs}
   {toxinidir}/tools/config/check_uptodate.sh
+  # Check that .po and .pot files are valid:
+  bash -c "find ironic -type f -regex '.*\.pot?' -print0|xargs --null -n 1 msgfmt --check-format -o /dev/null"
 
 [testenv:cover]
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}