--- a/src/i18n/kcatalog.cpp
+++ b/src/i18n/kcatalog.cpp
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@ QString KCatalog::catalogLocaleDir(const
 #if defined(Q_OS_ANDROID)
     return androidUnpackCatalog(relpath);
 #else
+    if( QFileInfo(QStringLiteral("/usr/share/kf5/locale/") + relpath).isFile() )
+        return QStringLiteral("/usr/share/kf5/locale");
     QString file = QStandardPaths::locate(QStandardPaths::GenericDataLocation, QStringLiteral("locale/") + relpath);
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
     // QStandardPaths fails on Windows for executables that aren't properly deployed yet, such as unit tests
@@ -182,6 +184,8 @@ QSet<QString> KCatalog::availableCatalog
 {
     QString domain = QFile::decodeName(domain_);
     QStringList localeDirPaths = QStandardPaths::locateAll(QStandardPaths::GenericDataLocation, QStringLiteral("locale"), QStandardPaths::LocateDirectory);
+    localeDirPaths.removeAll(QStringLiteral("/usr/share/kf5/locale"));
+    localeDirPaths.prepend(QStringLiteral("/usr/share/kf5/locale"));
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
     // QStandardPaths fails on Windows for executables that aren't properly deployed yet, such as unit tests
     localeDirPaths += QLatin1String(INSTALLED_LOCALE_PREFIX) + QLatin1String("/bin/data/locale/");