diff --git a/django/bin/django-admin.py b/django/bin/django-admin.py
index 6af3552a35..6b927cbde0 100755
--- a/django/bin/django-admin.py
+++ b/django/bin/django-admin.py
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 from django.core import management
-from django.utils import translation
 from optparse import OptionParser
 import os, sys
 
 # switch to english, because django-admin creates database content
 # like permissions, and those shouldn't contain any translations
-translation.activate('en-us')
+try:
+    from django.utils import translation
+    translation.activate('en-us')
+except:
+    pass
 
 ACTION_MAPPING = {
     'adminindex': management.get_admin_index,