diff --git a/usr.bin/w/w.c b/usr.bin/w/w.c
index 664d56f8f640..1460e26ab958 100644
--- a/usr.bin/w/w.c
+++ b/usr.bin/w/w.c
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ static char sccsid[] = "@(#)w.c	8.4 (Berkeley) 4/16/94";
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <utmp.h>
 #include <vis.h>
+#include <locale.h>
 
 #include <arpa/nameser.h>
 #include <resolv.h>
@@ -130,6 +131,8 @@ main(argc, argv)
 	char *memf, *nlistf, *p, *vis_args, *x;
 	char buf[MAXHOSTNAMELEN], errbuf[256];
 
+	(void) setlocale(LC_TIME|LC_CTYPE, "");
+
 	/* Are we w(1) or uptime(1)? */
 	p = __progname;
 	if (*p == '-')