diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_config.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_config.py
--- a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_config.py
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_config.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 
 import mako.exceptions
 
+import kallithea.lib.locale
 from kallithea.lib import inifile
 
 def show_defaults(ctx, param, value):
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ def config_create(config_file, key_value
         'git_hook_interpreter': sys.executable,
         'user_home_path': os.path.expanduser('~'),
         'kallithea_cli_path': cli_base.kallithea_cli_path,
+        'ssh_locale': kallithea.lib.locale.get_current_locale(),
     }
     ini_settings = defaultdict(dict)
 
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/locale.py b/kallithea/lib/locale.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/locale.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/locale.py
@@ -35,3 +35,14 @@ def current_locale_is_valid():
             log.error("Note: No locale setting found in environment variables - perhaps set LC_CTYPE to some value from 'locale -a', like 'C.UTF-8' or 'en_US.UTF-8'")
         return False
     return True
+
+def get_current_locale():
+    """Return the current locale based on environment variables.
+    There does not seem to be a good (and functional) way to get it via Python.
+    """
+    for var in ['LC_ALL', 'LC_CTYPE', 'LANG']:
+        val = os.environ.get(var)
+        if val:
+            log.debug('Determined current locale via environment variable %s (%s)', var, val)
+            return val
+    return None
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/paster_commands/template.ini.mako b/kallithea/lib/paster_commands/template.ini.mako
--- a/kallithea/lib/paster_commands/template.ini.mako
+++ b/kallithea/lib/paster_commands/template.ini.mako
@@ -346,6 +346,9 @@ kallithea_cli_path = ${kallithea_cli_pat
 <%text>## settings, which may not be available on the server.</%text>
 <%text>## See `locale -a` for valid values on this system.</%text>
 #ssh_locale = C.UTF-8
+%if ssh_locale:
+ssh_locale = ${ssh_locale}
+%endif
 
 <%text>####################################</%text>
 <%text>###        CELERY CONFIG        ####</%text>