diff --git a/development/scons/SConstruct b/development/scons/SConstruct
index c85370a83b..de9f578e07 100644
--- a/development/scons/SConstruct
+++ b/development/scons/SConstruct
@@ -2065,7 +2065,7 @@ if update_po:
         ['$TOP_SRCDIR/src/tex2lyx/%s' % x for x in src_tex2lyx_header_files + src_tex2lyx_files ]
     )
     Alias('update_po', POTFILES_in)
-    # build language_l10n.pot, ui_l10n.pot, layouts_l10n.pot, qt4_l10n.pot, external_l10n
+    # build language_l10n.pot, ui_l10n.pot, layouts_l10n.pot, qt4_l10n.pot, external_l10n, formats_l10n
     # and combine them to lyx.po
     env['LYX_POT'] = 'python $TOP_SRCDIR/po/lyx_pot.py'
     lyx_po = env.Command('$BUILDDIR/po/lyx.po',
@@ -2083,6 +2083,8 @@ if update_po:
                 '$LYX_POT -b $TOP_SRCDIR -t ui -o $TARGET $SOURCES'),
              env.Command('$BUILDDIR/po/external_l10n.pot', '$TOP_SRCDIR/lib/external_templates',
                 '$LYX_POT -b $TOP_SRCDIR -t external -o $TARGET $SOURCES'),
+             env.Command('$BUILDDIR/po/formats_l10n.pot', '$TOP_SRCDIR/lib/configure.py',
+                '$LYX_POT -b $TOP_SRCDIR -t formats -o $TARGET $SOURCES'),
              ], utils.env_cat),
             ['$MSGUNIQ -o $TARGET $SOURCE',
              '''$XGETTEXT --default-domain=${TARGET.base} \
diff --git a/po/Makefile.in.in b/po/Makefile.in.in
index f60c20b0d1..d1bcec40be 100644
--- a/po/Makefile.in.in
+++ b/po/Makefile.in.in
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ ${srcdir}/POTFILES.in: $(POTFILE_IN_DEPS)
 	     sort | uniq ) > $@-t \
 	&& mv $@-t $@
 
-l10n_pots: qt4_l10n.pot layouts_l10n.pot languages_l10n.pot ui_l10n.pot external_l10n.pot
+l10n_pots: qt4_l10n.pot layouts_l10n.pot languages_l10n.pot ui_l10n.pot external_l10n.pot formats_l10n.pot
 	cat $^ | \
 	msguniq -o $(DOMAIN).po && rm -f  $^
 
@@ -419,6 +419,9 @@ i18n.inc: $(POFILES) postats.py
 external_l10n.pot: $(top_srcdir)/lib/external_templates
 	python $(srcdir)/lyx_pot.py -b $(top_srcdir) -o $@ -t external ${top_srcdir}/lib/external_templates
 
+formats_l10n.pot: $(top_srcdir)/lib/configure.py
+	python $(srcdir)/lyx_pot.py -b $(top_srcdir) -o $@ -t formats ${top_srcdir}/lib/configure.py
+
 force:
 
 # Tell versions [3.59,3.63) of GNU make not to export all variables.
diff --git a/po/lyx_pot.py b/po/lyx_pot.py
index 40cb9bc535..ef58b7da18 100755
--- a/po/lyx_pot.py
+++ b/po/lyx_pot.py
@@ -194,6 +194,36 @@ def external_l10n(input_files, output, base):
     output.close()
 
 
+def formats_l10n(input_files, output, base):
+    '''Generate pot file from configure.py'''
+    output = open(output, 'w')
+    GuiName = re.compile(r'.*\Format\s+\S+\s+\S+\s+"([^"]*)"\s+(\S*)\s+.*')
+    GuiName2 = re.compile(r'.*\Format\s+\S+\s+\S+\s+([^"]\S+)\s+(\S*)\s+.*')
+    input = open(input_files[0])
+    for lineno, line in enumerate(input.readlines()):
+        label = ""
+        labelsc = ""
+        if GuiName.match(line):
+            label = GuiName.match(line).group(1)
+            shortcut = GuiName.match(line).group(2).replace('"', '')
+        elif GuiName2.match(line):
+            label = GuiName2.match(line).group(1)
+            shortcut = GuiName2.match(line).group(2).replace('"', '')
+        else:
+            continue
+        label = label.replace('\\', '\\\\').replace('"', '')
+        if shortcut != "":
+            labelsc = label + "|" + shortcut
+        if label != "":
+            print >> output, '#: %s:%d\nmsgid "%s"\nmsgstr ""\n' % \
+                (relativePath(input_files[0], base), lineno+1, label)
+        if labelsc != "":
+            print >> output, '#: %s:%d\nmsgid "%s"\nmsgstr ""\n' % \
+                (relativePath(input_files[0], base), lineno+1, labelsc)
+    input.close()
+    output.close()
+
+
 Usage = '''
 lyx_pot.py [-b|--base top_src_dir] [-o|--output output_file] [-h|--help] -t|--type input_type input_files
 
@@ -208,6 +238,7 @@ where
         qt4: qt4 ui files
         languages: file lib/languages
         external: external templates file
+        formats: formats predefined in lib/configure.py
 '''
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
@@ -227,7 +258,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
             base = value
         elif opt in ['-t', '--type']:
             input_type = value
-    if input_type not in ['ui', 'layouts', 'qt4', 'languages', 'external'] or output is None:
+    if input_type not in ['ui', 'layouts', 'qt4', 'languages', 'external', 'formats'] or output is None:
         print 'Wrong input type or output filename.'
         sys.exit(1)
     if input_type == 'ui':
@@ -238,6 +269,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         qt4_l10n(args, output, base)
     elif input_type == 'external':
         external_l10n(args, output, base)
+    elif input_type == 'formats':
+        formats_l10n(args, output, base)
     else:
         languages_l10n(args, output, base)
 
diff --git a/src/LyXFunc.cpp b/src/LyXFunc.cpp
index 9d094d0ca0..84658afb60 100644
--- a/src/LyXFunc.cpp
+++ b/src/LyXFunc.cpp
@@ -2117,7 +2117,7 @@ void LyXFunc::doImport(string const & argument)
 			make_pair(_("Examples|#E#e"),
 				  from_utf8(addPath(package().system_support().absFilename(), "examples"))));
 
-		docstring filter = formats.prettyName(format);
+		docstring filter = translateIfPossible(formats.prettyName(format));
 		filter += " (*.";
 		// FIXME UNICODE
 		filter += from_utf8(formats.extension(format));
diff --git a/src/MenuBackend.cpp b/src/MenuBackend.cpp
index e35403cdd3..eec7b8cf46 100644
--- a/src/MenuBackend.cpp
+++ b/src/MenuBackend.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ namespace lyx {
 using support::compare_ascii_no_case;
 using support::contains;
 using support::makeDisplayPath;
+using support::split;
 using support::token;
 
 using boost::bind;
@@ -534,16 +535,20 @@ void expandFormats(MenuItem::Kind kind, Menu & tomenu, Buffer const * buf)
 		if ((*fit)->dummy())
 			continue;
 		docstring label = from_utf8((*fit)->prettyname());
-		docstring const shortcut = from_utf8((*fit)->shortcut());
+		docstring shortcut = from_utf8((*fit)->shortcut());
+
+		if (!shortcut.empty())
+			label += char_type('|') + shortcut;
+		docstring label_i18n = translateIfPossible(label);
+		bool const untranslated = (label == label_i18n);
+		shortcut = split(label_i18n, label, '|');
+		if (untranslated)
+			// this might happen if the shortcut
+			// has been redefined
+			label = translateIfPossible(label);
 
 		switch (kind) {
 		case MenuItem::ImportFormats:
-			// FIXME: This is a hack, we should rather solve
-			// FIXME: bug 2488 instead.
-			if ((*fit)->name() == "text")
-				label = _("Plain Text");
-			else if ((*fit)->name() == "textparagraph")
-				label = _("Plain Text, Join Lines");
 			label += "...";
 			break;
 		case MenuItem::ViewFormats:
@@ -556,12 +561,7 @@ void expandFormats(MenuItem::Kind kind, Menu & tomenu, Buffer const * buf)
 			BOOST_ASSERT(false);
 			break;
 		}
-		// FIXME: if we had proper support for translating the
-		// format names defined in configure.py, there would
-		// not be a need to check whether the shortcut is
-		// correct. If we add it uncondiitonally, it would
-		// create useless warnings on bad shortcuts
-		if (!shortcut.empty() && contains(label, shortcut))
+		if (!shortcut.empty())
 			label += char_type('|') + shortcut;
 
 		if (buf)
diff --git a/status.15x b/status.15x
index 7216e1c018..25b5869984 100644
--- a/status.15x
+++ b/status.15x
@@ -46,12 +46,12 @@ What's new
   importing LaTeX files (bug 4867).
 
 
-* WINDOWS INSTALLER:
+* WINDOWS INSTALLER
 
 
 
 
-* BUILD:
+* BUILD
 
 
 
@@ -64,16 +64,17 @@ What's new
 
 
 
-* USER INTERFACE:
+* USER INTERFACE
 
 - Fix display of filters such as "LaTeX (plain)" in the file dialog.
 
 
-* DOCUMENTATION
+* DOCUMENTATION AND LOCALIZATION
+
+- The dynamically generated file formats in the menus are now translatable
+  (bug 2488).
 
 
-
-
-* BUILD/INSTALLATION:
+* BUILD/INSTALLATION