diff --git a/cli/ranger.sh b/cli/ranger.sh
index 1bf53f1..cacdfce 100755
--- a/cli/ranger.sh
+++ b/cli/ranger.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ if ! has_cmd python; then
 fi
 log 'Setting up ranger'
 
+if [ "$LANG" != "en_US.UTF-8" ] ; then
+    echo "please set LANG to en_US.UTF-8 for ranger to work properly"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 # install ranger
 case "$PM" in
     apt)