diff --git a/src/i18n.js b/src/i18n.js
index e405600ec..b54af2f89 100644
--- a/src/i18n.js
+++ b/src/i18n.js
@@ -12,6 +12,29 @@ import getValidLocaleCode from './lib/i18n-localeParser.js'
 const { version } = pkgJson
 export const localesList = Object.values(locales)
 
+let i18nBackend = [HttpBackend]
+let i18nBackendOptions = [
+  { // HttpBackend
+    loadPath: (lngs, namespaces) => {
+      const locale = getValidLocaleCode({ i18n, localeCode: lngs[0], languages: locales })
+      // ensure a relative path is used to look up the locales, so it works when loaded from /ipfs/<cid>
+      return `locales/${locale}/${namespaces}.json`
+    }
+  }
+]
+
+if (typeof window !== 'undefined' && 'localStorage' in window) {
+  i18nBackend = [LocalStorageBackend, ...i18nBackend]
+  i18nBackendOptions = [
+    { // LocalStorageBackend
+      defaultVersion: version,
+      expirationTime: (!process.env.NODE_ENV || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') ? 1 : 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
+      store: typeof window !== 'undefined' && 'localStorage' in window ? window.localStorage : null
+    },
+    ...i18nBackendOptions
+  ]
+}
+
 i18n
   .use(ICU)
   .use(Backend)
@@ -19,23 +42,8 @@ i18n
   .init({
     load: 'currentOnly', // see https://github.com/i18next/i18next-http-backend/issues/61
     backend: {
-      backends: [
-        LocalStorageBackend,
-        HttpBackend
-      ],
-      backendOptions: [
-        { // LocalStorageBackend
-          defaultVersion: version,
-          expirationTime: (!process.env.NODE_ENV || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') ? 1 : 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
-        },
-        { // HttpBackend
-          loadPath: (lngs, namespaces) => {
-            const locale = getValidLocaleCode({ i18n, localeCode: lngs[0], languages: locales })
-            // ensure a relative path is used to look up the locales, so it works when loaded from /ipfs/<cid>
-            return `locales/${locale}/${namespaces}.json`
-          }
-        }
-      ]
+      backends: i18nBackend,
+      backendOptions: i18nBackendOptions
     },
     ns: ['app', 'welcome', 'status', 'files', 'explore', 'peers', 'settings', 'notify'],
     defaultNS: 'app',