diff --git a/java/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironment.java b/java/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironment.java
index 22b60f22d..7d27ce020 100644
--- a/java/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironment.java
+++ b/java/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironment.java
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ public GitEnvironment(Map<String, String> environment) {
 
   public ImmutableMap<String, String> getEnvironment() {
     Map<String, String> env = Maps.newHashMap(environment);
+    
+    // Explicitly set output language to english so parsing of git's output
+    // succeeds independently of users default locale.
+    env.put("LANG", "en_US.UTF-8");
+    
     if (noGitPrompt) {
       env.put("GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT", "0");
     }
diff --git a/javatests/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironmentTest.java b/javatests/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironmentTest.java
index 732a51879..523d3c5a4 100644
--- a/javatests/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironmentTest.java
+++ b/javatests/com/google/copybara/git/GitEnvironmentTest.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 public class GitEnvironmentTest {
 
   private static final Map<String, String> environment =
-      ImmutableMap.<String, String>builder().put("FOO", "123").put("BAR", "456").build();
+      ImmutableMap.<String, String>builder().put("FOO", "123").put("BAR", "456").put("LANG", "en_US.UTF-8").build();
 
   @Test
   public void testEnvironmentReturned() {