diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/packet/AbstractError.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/packet/AbstractError.java
index 26e3daf69..df7790919 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/packet/AbstractError.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/packet/AbstractError.java
@@ -67,7 +67,10 @@ public class AbstractError {
         String defaultLocale = Locale.getDefault().getLanguage();
         String descriptiveText = getDescriptiveText(defaultLocale);
         if (descriptiveText == null) {
-            descriptiveText = getDescriptiveText("");
+            descriptiveText = getDescriptiveText("en");
+            if(descriptiveText == null) {
+                descriptiveText = getDescriptiveText("");
+            }
         }
         return descriptiveText;
     }