diff --git a/po/ChangeLog b/po/ChangeLog
index 7c8e6e303b..7dfe10fc8e 100644
--- a/po/ChangeLog
+++ b/po/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2005-01-12  Angus Leeming  <leeming@lyx.org>
+
+	* Makefile.in.in (POTFILES.in): replace mention of path_defines.C
+	with package.C.
+
 2004-10-18  Georg Baum  <Georg.Baum@post.rwth-aachen.de>
 
 	* de.po: update strings with context information
diff --git a/po/Makefile.in.in b/po/Makefile.in.in
index 83d3a469db..43af783863 100644
--- a/po/Makefile.in.in
+++ b/po/Makefile.in.in
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ ${srcdir}/POTFILES.in: $(POTFILE_IN_DEPS)
 	rm -f $@-t \
 	&& ( cd $(top_srcdir); \
 	     grep -l "_(\".*\")" `find src \( -name '*.[Cch]' -o -name '*.C.in' \) -print` |\
-	     sed -e '/xforms.forms/d' | grep -v -e "src/support/path_defines.C$$" |\
+	     sed -e '/xforms.forms/d'| grep -v -e "src/support/package.C$$" |\
 	     sort | uniq ) > $@-t \
 	&& mv $@-t $@
 
diff --git a/po/POTFILES.in b/po/POTFILES.in
index 295efd9f15..c6b71a9647 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ src/output_plaintext.C
 src/paragraph.C
 src/rowpainter.C
 src/support/filefilterlist.C
+src/support/package.C.in
 src/text.C
 src/text2.C
 src/text3.C
diff --git a/src/support/ChangeLog b/src/support/ChangeLog
index 7b90e16ec8..84c8dbce37 100644
--- a/src/support/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/support/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2005-01-12  Angus Leeming  <leeming@lyx.org>
+
+	* package.C.in (package): comment out the ASSERT for now.
+	(check_env_var_dir): write one of the strings to be translated
+	(any one, doesn't matter) on a single line so that the
+	gettext search mechanism in po/Makefile.in.in will register
+	package.C.in as a file containing strings that need translation.
+
 2005-01-12  Angus Leeming  <leeming@lyx.org>
 
 	* os_win32.C: add #include "lstring.h" back in.
diff --git a/src/support/package.C.in b/src/support/package.C.in
index 9ad6bfe47e..50cb4daf95 100644
--- a/src/support/package.C.in
+++ b/src/support/package.C.in
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ void init_package(string const & command_line_arg0,
 
 Package const & package()
 {
-	BOOST_ASSERT(initialised_);
+	// BOOST_ASSERT(initialised_);
 	return package_;
 }
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ string const get_home_dir();
 string const get_locale_dir(string const & system_support_dir);
 
 string const get_system_support_dir(string const & abs_binary,
-			       string const & command_line_system_support_dir);
+				    string const & command_line_system_support_dir);
 
 string const get_temp_dir();
 
@@ -659,9 +659,14 @@ bool check_env_var_dir(string const & dir,
 	bool const success = (fi.isOK() && fi.isDir());
 
 	if (!success) {
-		lyxerr << bformat(_("Invalid %1% environment variable.\n"
-				    "%2% is not a directory."),
-				  env_var, dir)
+		// Put this string on a single line so that the gettext
+		// search mechanism in po/Makefile.in.in will register
+		// package.C.in as a file containing strings that need
+		// translation.
+		string const fmt =
+		_("Invalid %1% environment variable.\n%2% is not a directory.");
+		
+		lyxerr << bformat(fmt, env_var, dir)
 		       << std::endl;
 	}