diff --git a/subiquity/server/apt.py b/subiquity/server/apt.py
index a7db4fc0..402fb410 100644
--- a/subiquity/server/apt.py
+++ b/subiquity/server/apt.py
@@ -173,7 +173,10 @@ class AptConfigurer:
             apt_cmd.append(
                     f"-o{target}::DefaultEnabled=false")
 
-        proc = await astart_command(apt_cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env["LANG"] = self.app.base_model.locale.selected_language
+        proc = await astart_command(apt_cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+                                    clean_locale=False, env=env)
 
         async def _reader():
             while not proc.stdout.at_eof():
diff --git a/subiquity/server/tests/test_apt.py b/subiquity/server/tests/test_apt.py
index 20e86f4b..e84dc2b2 100644
--- a/subiquity/server/tests/test_apt.py
+++ b/subiquity/server/tests/test_apt.py
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ class TestAptConfigurer(SubiTestCase):
         self.model = Mock()
         self.model.mirror = MirrorModel()
         self.model.proxy = ProxyModel()
+        self.model.locale.selected_language = "en_US.UTF-8"
         self.app = make_app(self.model)
         self.configurer = AptConfigurer(self.app, AsyncMock(), '')