diff --git a/development.ini b/development.ini
--- a/development.ini
+++ b/development.ini
@@ -238,6 +238,12 @@ ssh_enabled = false
 ## Path to be used in ssh_authorized_keys file to invoke kallithea-cli with ssh-serve.
 #kallithea_cli_path = /srv/kallithea/venv/bin/kallithea-cli
 
+## Locale to be used in the ssh-serve command.
+## This is needed because an SSH client may try to use its own locale
+## settings, which may not be available on the server.
+## See `locale -a` for valid values on this system.
+#ssh_locale = C.UTF-8
+
 ####################################
 ###        CELERY CONFIG        ####
 ####################################
diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_ssh.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_ssh.py
--- a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_ssh.py
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_ssh.py
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ def ssh_serve(user_id, key_id):
         sys.stderr.write("SSH access is disabled.\n")
         return sys.exit(1)
 
+    ssh_locale = kallithea.CONFIG.get('ssh_locale')
+    if ssh_locale:
+        os.environ['LC_ALL'] = ssh_locale # trumps everything, including LANG, except LANGUAGE
+        os.environ['LANGUAGE'] = ssh_locale # trumps LC_ALL for GNU gettext message handling
+
     ssh_original_command = os.environ.get('SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND', '')
     connection = re.search('^([\d\.]+)', os.environ.get('SSH_CONNECTION', ''))
     client_ip = connection.group(1) if connection else '0.0.0.0'
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
@@ -341,6 +341,12 @@ ssh_authorized_keys = ${user_home_path}/
 kallithea_cli_path = ${kallithea_cli_path}
 %endif
 
+<%text>## Locale to be used in the ssh-serve command.</%text>
+<%text>## This is needed because an SSH client may try to use its own locale</%text>
+<%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
+
 <%text>####################################</%text>
 <%text>###        CELERY CONFIG        ####</%text>
 <%text>####################################</%text>