--- a/make-rules/shared-macros.mk	Wed Dec 11 14:12:16 2013 -0800
+++ b/make-rules/shared-macros.mk	Wed Dec 11 15:19:02 2013 -0800
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@
 install:	SHELLOPTS=
 publish:	SHELLOPTS=pipefail
 
+# some things don't build properly in non-C locales,
+# so lets stay there
+export LC_ALL=C
+
 SHELL=	/bin/bash
 
 CONSOLIDATION =	userland