diff --git a/qt/i18n/build-mo-files b/qt/i18n/build-mo-files
index ec0b8a1b6..4666a7e44 100755
--- a/qt/i18n/build-mo-files
+++ b/qt/i18n/build-mo-files
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ do
         perl -pe "s%po/desktop/(.*)/anki.po%$targetDir/\1/LC_MESSAGES%")
     outfile="$outdir/anki.mo"
     mkdir -p $outdir
-    msgfmt $file --output-file=$outfile
+    msgmerge --for-msgfmt $file po/desktop/anki.pot | msgfmt - --output-file=$outfile
 done