diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/cleverraven/cataclysmdda/CataclysmDDA.java b/android/app/src/main/java/com/cleverraven/cataclysmdda/CataclysmDDA.java
index ecd31b35194da..7be201bf01560 100755
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/cleverraven/cataclysmdda/CataclysmDDA.java
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/cleverraven/cataclysmdda/CataclysmDDA.java
@@ -57,4 +57,17 @@ public void run() {
     public boolean getDefaultSetting(final String settingsName, boolean defaultValue) {
         return PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getApplicationContext()).getBoolean(settingsName, defaultValue);
     }
+
+    public String getSystemLang() {
+        String language = getResources().getConfiguration().locale.toString();
+        // remove suffix we are not interested in if it exists, eg. "en_US_WIN" -> "en_US"
+        int first_underscore = language.indexOf("_");
+        if(first_underscore != -1) {
+            int second_underscore = language.indexOf("_", first_underscore + 1);
+            if(second_underscore != -1) {
+                language = language.substring(0, second_underscore);
+            }
+        }
+        return language;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/translations.cpp b/src/translations.cpp
index 96d3787b21c32..30e477c2d1a5b 100644
--- a/src/translations.cpp
+++ b/src/translations.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@
 std::string getOSXSystemLang();
 #endif
 
+#if defined(__ANDROID__)
+#include <jni.h>
+#include "sdl_wrappers.h" // for SDL_AndroidGetJNIEnv()
+std::string getAndroidSystemLang();
+#endif
+
 // Names depend on the language settings. They are loaded from different files
 // based on the currently used language. If that changes, we have to reload the
 // names.
@@ -205,15 +211,19 @@ std::string locale_dir()
 
 void set_language()
 {
-    std::string win_or_mac_lang;
+    std::string system_lang;
 #if defined(_WIN32)
-    win_or_mac_lang = getLangFromLCID( GetUserDefaultLCID() );
-#endif
-#if defined(MACOSX)
-    win_or_mac_lang = getOSXSystemLang();
+    system_lang = getLangFromLCID( GetUserDefaultLCID() );
+#elif defined(MACOSX)
+    system_lang = getOSXSystemLang();
+#elif defined(__ANDROID__)
+    system_lang = getAndroidSystemLang();
 #endif
+    if( !isValidLanguage( system_lang ) ) {
+        system_lang = std::string();
+    }
     // Step 1. Setup locale settings.
-    std::string lang_opt = get_option<std::string>( "USE_LANG" ).empty() ? win_or_mac_lang :
+    std::string lang_opt = get_option<std::string>( "USE_LANG" ).empty() ? system_lang :
                            get_option<std::string>( "USE_LANG" );
     if( !lang_opt.empty() ) {
         // Not 'System Language'
@@ -323,6 +333,27 @@ std::string getOSXSystemLang()
 }
 #endif
 
+#if defined(__ANDROID__)
+std::string getAndroidSystemLang()
+{
+    JNIEnv *env = ( JNIEnv * )SDL_AndroidGetJNIEnv();
+    jobject activity = ( jobject )SDL_AndroidGetActivity();
+    jclass clazz( env->GetObjectClass( activity ) );
+    jmethodID method_id = env->GetMethodID( clazz, "getSystemLang", "()Ljava/lang/String;" );
+    jstring ans = ( jstring )env->CallObjectMethod( activity, method_id, 0 );
+    const char *ans_c_str = env->GetStringUTFChars( ans, 0 );
+    if( ans_c_str == nullptr ) {
+        // fail-safe if retrieving Java string failed
+        return std::string();
+    }
+    std::string lang( ans_c_str );
+    env->ReleaseStringUTFChars( ans, ans_c_str );
+    env->DeleteLocalRef( activity );
+    env->DeleteLocalRef( clazz );
+    return lang;
+}
+#endif
+
 #else // !LOCALIZE
 
 std::string locale_dir()