diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 962b16a6a..c7cccbf27 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Removed features in 2.4.0
   - Version 1.x sort columns no longer supported.
   - Old-style color names including underscores are no longer supported.
   - Removed priority counts from the 'projects' commands.
+  - Removed the unused 'locale' configuration variable.
 
 Known Issues
 
diff --git a/src/Context.cpp b/src/Context.cpp
index ea06b7a1b..2e626018f 100644
--- a/src/Context.cpp
+++ b/src/Context.cpp
@@ -199,12 +199,6 @@ int Context::initialize (int argc, const char** argv)
     // TODO Instantiate extension UDA objects.
     // TODO Instantiate extension format objects.
 
-    // If there is a locale variant (en-US.<variant>), then strip it.
-    std::string locale = config.get ("locale");
-    std::string::size_type period = locale.find ('.');
-    if (period != std::string::npos)
-      locale = locale.substr (0, period);
-
     // Initialize the database.
     tdb2.set_location (data_dir);
 
diff --git a/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp b/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
index 7d936665f..b013e575c 100644
--- a/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/CmdShow.cpp
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ int CmdShow::execute (std::string& output)
     " json.array"
     " list.all.projects"
     " list.all.tags"
-    " locale"
     " locking"
     " monthsperline"
     " nag"