diff --git a/args4j/pom.xml b/args4j/pom.xml
index 9f1a48ec..bd65cc14 100644
--- a/args4j/pom.xml
+++ b/args4j/pom.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
         <directory>test</directory>
         <includes>
           <include>**/*.xml</include>
+          <include>**/*.properties</include>
         </includes>
       </testResource>
     </testResources>
diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/CmdLineParser.java b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/CmdLineParser.java
index c387b119..f22ddd0b 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/CmdLineParser.java
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/CmdLineParser.java
@@ -366,7 +366,9 @@ private String createDefaultValuePart(OptionHandler handler) {
     }
 
     private String localize(String s, ResourceBundle rb) {
-        if(rb!=null)    return rb.getString(s);
+        if(rb!=null && rb.containsKey(s)) {
+            return rb.getString(s);
+        }
         return s;
     }
 
diff --git a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/spi/OptionHandler.java b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/spi/OptionHandler.java
index cb1f0095..faeb17af 100644
--- a/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/spi/OptionHandler.java
+++ b/args4j/src/org/kohsuke/args4j/spi/OptionHandler.java
@@ -82,10 +82,8 @@ public String getMetaVariable(ResourceBundle rb) {
             token = getDefaultMetaVariable();
         if(token==null) return null;
 
-        if(rb!=null) {
-            String localized = rb.getString(token);
-            if(localized!=null)
-                token = localized;
+        if(rb!=null && rb.containsKey(token)) {
+            token = rb.getString(token);
         }
 
         return token;
diff --git a/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTest.java b/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTest.java
index fffcea1a..0302b046 100644
--- a/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTest.java
+++ b/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTest.java
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.ResourceBundle;
 
 public class ArgumentTest extends TestCase {
     protected static class MultiValueHolder {
@@ -20,6 +23,14 @@ protected static class BooleanValueHolder {
 		public boolean b;
 	}
 
+	protected static class I18NValueHolder {
+		@Argument(usage = "FILE2READ", required = true)
+		public File b;
+
+		@Option(name = "-a", usage = "1 2 3")
+		public String opt;
+	}
+
 	public void testMultiValue() throws Exception {
 		MultiValueHolder holder = new MultiValueHolder();
 		CmdLineParser parser = new CmdLineParser(holder);
@@ -64,4 +75,13 @@ public void testIllegalBoolean() throws Exception {
 		}
 		fail("expected " + CmdLineException.class);
 	}
+
+	public void testI18N() {
+		I18NValueHolder holder = new I18NValueHolder();
+		CmdLineParser parser = new CmdLineParser(holder);
+		StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
+		ResourceBundle rb = ResourceBundle.getBundle("org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTestI18N");
+		parser.printUsage(sw, rb);
+		assertTrue(sw.toString()!=null);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTestI18N.properties b/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTestI18N.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ec4ac3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/args4j/test/org/kohsuke/args4j/ArgumentTestI18N.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+FILE2READ=File to read
\ No newline at end of file