diff --git a/lib/js_locale_helper.rb b/lib/js_locale_helper.rb
index 5fe25e978b4..85221ec8049 100644
--- a/lib/js_locale_helper.rb
+++ b/lib/js_locale_helper.rb
@@ -78,12 +78,16 @@ module JsLocaleHelper
 
     site_locale = SiteSetting.default_locale.to_sym
 
-    if locale_sym == :en
+    if Rails.env.development?
       translations = load_translations(locale_sym)
-    elsif locale_sym == site_locale || site_locale == :en
-      translations = load_translations_merged(locale_sym, :en)
     else
-      translations = load_translations_merged(locale_sym, site_locale, :en)
+      if locale_sym == :en
+        translations = load_translations(locale_sym)
+      elsif locale_sym == site_locale || site_locale == :en
+        translations = load_translations_merged(locale_sym, :en)
+      else
+        translations = load_translations_merged(locale_sym, site_locale, :en)
+      end
     end
 
     message_formats = strip_out_message_formats!(translations[locale_str]['js'])