=== modified file 'Mailman/i18n.py'
--- Mailman/i18n.py	2016-03-02 09:57:16 +0000
+++ Mailman/i18n.py	2016-12-05 19:04:37 +0000
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@
 
 if not mm_cfg.DISABLE_COMMAND_LOCALE_CSET:
     _ctype_charset = _get_ctype_charset()
+else:
+    _ctype_charset = None
 
 
 
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@
 
 def tolocale(s):
     global _ctype_charset
-    if isinstance(s, UnicodeType):
+    if isinstance(s, UnicodeType) or _ctype_charset is None:
         return s
     source = _translation.charset ()
     if not source: