diff --git a/src/env.cpp b/src/env.cpp
index f34ee9c27..79a1e0f0c 100644
--- a/src/env.cpp
+++ b/src/env.cpp
@@ -191,7 +191,9 @@ static bool var_is_locale(const wcstring &key) {
 /// Properly sets all locale information.
 static void handle_locale(const wchar_t *env_var_name) {
     debug(2, L"handle_locale() called in response to '%ls' changing", env_var_name);
-    const char *old_msg_locale = setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, NULL);
+    // We have to make a copy because the subsequent setlocale() call to change the locale will
+    // invalidate the pointer from the this setlocale() call.
+    char *old_msg_locale = strdup(setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, NULL));
     const env_var_t val = env_get_string(env_var_name, ENV_EXPORT);
     const std::string &value = wcs2string(val);
     const std::string &name = wcs2string(env_var_name);
@@ -216,6 +218,7 @@ static void handle_locale(const wchar_t *env_var_name) {
         _nl_msg_cat_cntr++;
     }
 #endif
+    free(old_msg_locale);
 }
 
 /// Check if the specified variable is a locale variable.