diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 48fe9de45..89aa3d91c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ build
 pyenv
 .mypy_cache
 __pycache__
+i18n
diff --git a/scripts.inc b/scripts.inc
index 51fb162e0..06383b053 100644
--- a/scripts.inc
+++ b/scripts.inc
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 set -e
 
 CHECKABLE="lib-rust lib-python anki-qt"
-DEVEL="lib-rspy lib-python anki-qt"
+DEVEL="lib-rspy lib-python anki-qt i18n"
 
 if [ "$UNOPT" = "" ]; then
     BUILDFLAGS="--release --strip"
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
 
 # add qt if missing
 python -c 'import PyQt5' 2>/dev/null || pip install -r anki-qt/requirements.qt
+
+# fetch i18n files
+test -d i18n || git clone -depth 1 https://github.com/ankitects/anki-i18n i18n