diff --git a/build.properties b/build.properties
index 63409c72e..157b7b602 100644
--- a/build.properties
+++ b/build.properties
@@ -129,3 +129,5 @@ javac.version=1.6
 #with-libjakarta-taglibs-standard-java=true
 # Don't include jstl.jar, we will use libjstl1.1-java package
 #with-libjstl1.1-java=true
+# Don't compile GettextResource.java, we will use libintl.jar from the gettext-base package
+#with-gettext-base=true
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index ad667efad..d87ca2c2e 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -2026,6 +2026,8 @@
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/installer/lib/" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/Slackware" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/_MTN" />
+            <!-- gettext-base -->
+            <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/gettext" />
             <!-- systray4j -->
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/lib" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/src/net/i2p/apps/systray/SysTrayImpl.java" />
@@ -2094,6 +2096,7 @@
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/installer/lib/" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/Slackware" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/_MTN" />
+            <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/gettext" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/lib" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/src/net/i2p/apps/systray/SysTrayImpl.java" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/installer/resources/geoip.txt" />
diff --git a/core/java/build.xml b/core/java/build.xml
index 56423cd5b..7193c2787 100644
--- a/core/java/build.xml
+++ b/core/java/build.xml
@@ -21,13 +21,22 @@
     <property name="javac.classpath" value="" />
     <property name="javac.version" value="1.6" />
 
+    <!-- fixups if we're using libintl.jar for GettextResource.java -->
+    <condition property="source.exclude" value="src/gnu/gettext/GettextResource.java" else="" >
+        <istrue value="${with-gettext-base}" />
+    </condition>
+    <condition property="javac.classpath.mod" value="/usr/share/java/libintl.jar ${javac.classpath}" else="${javac.classpath}" >
+        <istrue value="${with-gettext-base}" />
+    </condition>
+
     <target name="compile" depends="depend">
         <mkdir dir="./build" />
         <mkdir dir="./build/obj" />
         <javac srcdir="./src" debug="true" source="${javac.version}" target="${javac.version}" deprecation="on"
                debuglevel="lines,vars,source"
                includeAntRuntime="false"
-               destdir="./build/obj" classpath="${javac.classpath}" >
+               excludes="${source.exclude}"
+               destdir="./build/obj" classpath="${javac.classpath.mod}" >
             <compilerarg line="${javac.compilerargs}" />
         </javac>
     </target>
@@ -94,7 +103,7 @@
         <mkdir dir="./build/obj_scala" />
         <scalac srcdir="./test/scalatest" destdir="./build/obj_scala" deprecation="on" >
             <classpath>
-                <pathelement location="${javac.classpath}" />
+                <pathelement location="${javac.classpath.mod}" />
                 <pathelement location="${scala-library.jar}" />
                 <pathelement location="${scalatest.jar}" />
                 <pathelement location="./build/obj" />
@@ -115,9 +124,10 @@
         <javac srcdir="./test/junit" debug="true" source="${javac.version}" target="${javac.version}" deprecation="on"
                debuglevel="lines,vars,source"
                includeAntRuntime="true"
+               excludes="${source.exclude}"
                destdir="./build/obj" >
             <classpath>
-                <pathelement path="${javac.classpath}" />
+                <pathelement path="${javac.classpath.mod}" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-core.jar" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-library.jar" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-integration.jar" />
@@ -238,7 +248,7 @@
             <sysproperty key="net.sourceforge.cobertura.datafile" file="./cobertura.ser" />
             <classpath>
                 <pathelement location="../../installer/resources/" />
-                <pathelement path="${javac.classpath}" />
+                <pathelement path="${javac.classpath.mod}" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-core.jar" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-library.jar" />
                 <pathelement location="${hamcrest.home}/hamcrest-integration.jar" />
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index cda4e53ce..15fe37b52 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${java:Depends}, ${shlibs:Depends},
  openjdk-8-jre-headless | openjdk-7-jre-headless | default-jre-headless | java8-runtime-headless | java7-runtime-headless,
  libecj-java,
  geoip-database,
+ gettext-base,
  libjetty8-java, libservlet3.0-java,
  glassfish-javaee
 Replaces: i2p ( << 0.8.6-5)
diff --git a/debian/i2p-router.links b/debian/i2p-router.links
index c04a0f294..8b88e4ed5 100644
--- a/debian/i2p-router.links
+++ b/debian/i2p-router.links
@@ -79,3 +79,8 @@ usr/share/java/glassfish-appserv-jstl.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/standard.jar
 # comment out if not building with libjstl1.1-java
 # ubuntu and debian: everywhere
 #usr/share/java/jstl1.1.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/jstl.jar
+
+
+# comment out if not building with gettext-base
+# ubuntu and debian: everywhere
+usr/share/java/libintl.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/libintl.jar
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 04b091032..a9180ee24 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ endif
 	@#/bin/echo -e "with-libjstl1.1-java=true" >> $(CURDIR)/override.properties
 	@#ln -sf /usr/share/java/jstl1.1.jar $(CURDIR)/apps/susidns/src/lib/jstl.jar
 
+	@# debian and ubuntu: everywhere
+	@/bin/echo -e "with-gettext-base=true" >> $(CURDIR)/override.properties
+
 	TZ=UTC JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-Dfile.encoding=UTF8 ant preppkg-unix javadoc
 	echo router.updateDisabled=true > $(I2P)/router.config
 	mv $(I2P)/runplain.sh $(I2P)/i2prouter-nowrapper