diff --git a/src/output_latex.cpp b/src/output_latex.cpp
index 103a8bc42a..e6deb6179a 100644
--- a/src/output_latex.cpp
+++ b/src/output_latex.cpp
@@ -583,7 +583,8 @@ void TeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 					os << "\\L{";
 			}
 			// With CJK, the CJK tag has to be closed first (see below)
-			if (runparams.encoding->package() != Encoding::CJK) {
+			if (runparams.encoding->package() != Encoding::CJK
+			    && !par_lang.empty()) {
 				os << from_ascii(subst(
 					lang_begin_command,
 					"$$lang",
@@ -644,7 +645,8 @@ void TeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 					os << "%\n";
 				}
 				// With CJK, the CJK tag had to be closed first (see above)
-				if (runparams.encoding->package() == Encoding::CJK) {
+				if (runparams.encoding->package() == Encoding::CJK
+				    && !par_lang.empty()) {
 					os << from_ascii(subst(
 						lang_begin_command,
 						"$$lang",