diff --git a/clutter/clutter-main.c b/clutter/clutter-main.c
index 9edbce8c6..994a844da 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-main.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-main.c
@@ -1142,16 +1142,16 @@ clutter_init_real (GError **error)
 
 static GOptionEntry clutter_args[] = {
   { "clutter-show-fps", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &clutter_show_fps,
-    "Show frames per second", NULL },
+    N_("Show frames per second"), NULL },
   { "clutter-default-fps", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT, &clutter_default_fps,
-    "Default frame rate", "FPS" },
+    N_("Default frame rate"), "FPS" },
   { "g-fatal-warnings", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &clutter_fatal_warnings,
-    "Make all warnings fatal", NULL },
+    N_("Make all warnings fatal"), NULL },
 #ifdef CLUTTER_ENABLE_DEBUG
   { "clutter-debug", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_CALLBACK, clutter_arg_debug_cb,
-    "Clutter debugging flags to set", "FLAGS" },
+    N_("Clutter debugging flags to set"), "FLAGS" },
   { "clutter-no-debug", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_CALLBACK, clutter_arg_no_debug_cb,
-    "Clutter debugging flags to unset", "FLAGS" },
+    N_("Clutter debugging flags to unset"), "FLAGS" },
 #endif /* CLUTTER_ENABLE_DEBUG */
   { NULL, },
 };
@@ -1294,13 +1294,14 @@ clutter_get_option_group (void)
   context = clutter_context_get_default ();
 
   group = g_option_group_new ("clutter",
-                              "Clutter Options",
-                              "Show Clutter Options",
+                              _("Clutter Options"),
+                              _("Show Clutter Options"),
                               NULL,
                               NULL);
 
   g_option_group_set_parse_hooks (group, pre_parse_hook, post_parse_hook);
   g_option_group_add_entries (group, clutter_args);
+  g_option_group_set_translation_domain (group, GETTEXT_PACKAGE);
 
   /* add backend-specific options */
   _clutter_backend_add_options (context->backend, group);
@@ -2118,6 +2119,9 @@ clutter_base_init (void)
 
       initialised = TRUE;
 
+      bindtextdomain (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
+      bind_textdomain_codeset (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, "UTF-8");
+
       /* initialise GLib type system */
       g_type_init ();
 
diff --git a/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c b/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
index 9f4f47b4a..71276d161 100644
--- a/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
+++ b/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #endif
 
+#include <glib/gi18n-lib.h>
+
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ static const GOptionEntry entries[] =
   { "vblank", 0, 
     0, 
     G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &clutter_vblank_name,
-    "VBlank method to be used (none, dri or glx)", "METHOD" 
+    N_("VBlank method to be used (none, dri or glx)"), "METHOD"
   },
   { NULL }
 };
diff --git a/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.c b/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.c
index f05589b9f..412bb77da 100644
--- a/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.c
+++ b/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.c
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #endif
 
+#include <glib/gi18n-lib.h>
+
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
@@ -235,18 +237,18 @@ static const GOptionEntry entries[] =
     "display", 0,
     G_OPTION_FLAG_IN_MAIN,
     G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &clutter_display_name,
-    "X display to use", "DISPLAY"
+    N_("X display to use"), "DISPLAY"
   },
   {
     "screen", 0,
     G_OPTION_FLAG_IN_MAIN,
     G_OPTION_ARG_INT, &clutter_screen,
-    "X screen to use", "SCREEN"
+    N_("X screen to use"), "SCREEN"
   },
   { "synch", 0,
     0,
     G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &clutter_synchronise,
-    "Make X calls synchronous", NULL,
+    N_("Make X calls synchronous"), NULL,
   },
   { NULL }
 };
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4913faf86..ccfc2e0f5 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -637,6 +637,7 @@ AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(GETTEXT_PACKAGE, "$GETTEXT_PACKAGE",
 
 ALL_LINGUAS=""
 AM_GLIB_GNU_GETTEXT
+GLIB_DEFINE_LOCALEDIR(LOCALEDIR)
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([
         Makefile
diff --git a/po/POTFILES.in b/po/POTFILES.in
index e69de29bb..76922d195 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+clutter/clutter-actor.c
+clutter/clutter-behaviour.c
+clutter/clutter-color.c
+clutter/clutter-container.c
+clutter/clutter-event.c
+clutter/clutter-fixed.c
+clutter/clutter-fixed.h
+clutter/clutter-main.c
+clutter/clutter-stage-window.c
+clutter/clutter-stage.c
+clutter/clutter-texture.c
+clutter/clutter-units.c
+clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
+clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.c