diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-agent-central b/bin/ceilometer-agent-central
index a4cfcba4..919f16d7 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-agent-central
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-agent-central
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ eventlet.monkey_patch()
 import sys
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
+
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer.central import manager
 from ceilometer.service import prepare_service
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import service
diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-agent-compute b/bin/ceilometer-agent-compute
index 95770740..27dff947 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-agent-compute
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-agent-compute
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ eventlet.monkey_patch()
 import sys
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
+
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer.compute import manager
 from ceilometer.service import prepare_service
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import service
diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-api b/bin/ceilometer-api
index ffe24a46..06435ba2 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-api
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-api
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ from wsgiref import simple_server
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer.api import app
 from ceilometer import service
 
diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-collector b/bin/ceilometer-collector
index 4fa81513..5f3586cf 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-collector
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-collector
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ import sys
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer.collector import service as coll_service
 from ceilometer.service import prepare_service
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import service
diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-dbsync b/bin/ceilometer-dbsync
index 26eb7486..f7926367 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-dbsync
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-dbsync
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ import sys
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer import service
 from ceilometer import storage
 
diff --git a/bin/ceilometer-send-counter b/bin/ceilometer-send-counter
index e8c62092..33b8adbc 100755
--- a/bin/ceilometer-send-counter
+++ b/bin/ceilometer-send-counter
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ import sys
 from oslo.config import cfg
 from stevedore import dispatch
 
+from ceilometer.openstack.common import gettextutils
+gettextutils.install('ceilometer')
+
 from ceilometer import counter
 from ceilometer import pipeline
 from ceilometer import service
diff --git a/ceilometer/__init__.py b/ceilometer/__init__.py
index 9ed525a3..8a0b49a4 100644
--- a/ceilometer/__init__.py
+++ b/ceilometer/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,3 @@
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 #
-
-import gettext
-
-gettext.install('ceilometer', unicode=1)
diff --git a/ceilometer/openstack/common/gettextutils.py b/ceilometer/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
index 589d3dbe..414d5cec 100644
--- a/ceilometer/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
+++ b/ceilometer/openstack/common/gettextutils.py
@@ -24,10 +24,27 @@ Usual usage in an openstack.common module:
 """
 
 import gettext
+import os
 
-
-t = gettext.translation('ceilometer', 'locale', fallback=True)
+_localedir = os.environ.get('ceilometer'.upper() + '_LOCALEDIR')
+_t = gettext.translation('ceilometer', localedir=_localedir, fallback=True)
 
 
 def _(msg):
-    return t.ugettext(msg)
+    return _t.ugettext(msg)
+
+
+def install(domain):
+    """Install a _() function using the given translation domain.
+
+    Given a translation domain, install a _() function using gettext's
+    install() function.
+
+    The main difference from gettext.install() is that we allow
+    overriding the default localedir (e.g. /usr/share/locale) using
+    a translation-domain-specific environment variable (e.g.
+    NOVA_LOCALEDIR).
+    """
+    gettext.install(domain,
+                    os.environ.get(domain.upper() + '_LOCALEDIR'),
+                    unicode=True)
diff --git a/tools/hacking.py b/tools/hacking.py
index 2717375b..459fbb96 100755
--- a/tools/hacking.py
+++ b/tools/hacking.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 Built on top of pep8.py
 """
 
+import gettext
 import imp
 import inspect
 import logging
@@ -645,6 +646,7 @@ imports_on_separate_lines_N301_compliant = r"""
     """
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    gettext.install('ceilometer', unicode=True)
     #include nova path
     sys.path.append(os.getcwd())
     #Run once tests (not per line)