diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 0b7c22ecf5..0ceef41d84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ jobs:
               uses: actions/setup-python@v5
               with:
                   python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+            - name: Install gettext
+              run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gettext
             - name: Install dependencies
               run: |
                   python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2bf7ed7063..78f59e8997 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ APP_LIST ?= accounts aggregator blog contact dashboard djangoproject docs founda
 SCSS = djangoproject/scss
 STATIC = djangoproject/static
 
-ci: test
+ci: compilemessages test
 	@python -m coverage report
 
+compilemessages:
+	python -m manage compilemessages
+
 collectstatics: compile-scss
 	python -m manage collectstatic --noinput
 
diff --git a/djangoproject/settings/common.py b/djangoproject/settings/common.py
index f36e44411a..fff6e1dfee 100644
--- a/djangoproject/settings/common.py
+++ b/djangoproject/settings/common.py
@@ -217,8 +217,13 @@
 
 TIME_ZONE = "America/Chicago"
 
+# Internationalization settings
+
 USE_I18N = True
 
+# Django discovers locale directories in the installed apps on its own,
+# but the main project locale directory needs to be listed explicitly.
+LOCALE_PATHS = (BASE_DIR / "locale",)
 
 USE_TZ = False
 
diff --git a/djangoproject/tests.py b/djangoproject/tests.py
index a95f0b939f..759f0a3292 100644
--- a/djangoproject/tests.py
+++ b/djangoproject/tests.py
@@ -4,11 +4,49 @@
 from django.core.management import call_command
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.urls import NoReverseMatch, get_resolver
+from django.utils.translation import activate, gettext as _
 from django_hosts.resolvers import reverse
 
 from docs.models import DocumentRelease, Release
 
 
+class LocaleSmokeTests(TestCase):
+    """
+    Smoke test a translated string from each of the 3 locale directories
+    (one defined in settings.LOCALE_PATHS, plus the dashboard and docs apps).
+    """
+
+    def test_dashboard_locale(self):
+        """dashboard/locale/ should contain translations for 'Development dashboard'"""
+        activate("fr")
+        translated = _("Development dashboard")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            translated,
+            "Tableau de bord de développement",
+            msg="dashboard/locale/ translation not loaded or incorrect",
+        )
+
+    def test_docs_locale(self):
+        """docs/locale/ should contain translations for 'Using Django'"""
+        activate("fr")
+        translated = _("Using Django")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            translated,
+            "Utilisation de Django",
+            msg="docs/locale/ translation not loaded or incorrect",
+        )
+
+    def test_project_locale(self):
+        """locale/ should contain translations for 'Fundraising'"""
+        activate("fr")
+        translated = _("Fundraising")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            translated,
+            "Levée de fonds",
+            msg="project-level locale/ translation not loaded or incorrect",
+        )
+
+
 class TemplateViewTests(TestCase):
     """
     Tests for views that are instances of TemplateView.
diff --git a/update-translations.sh b/update-translations.sh
index 6d0fda4322..30a888ef4d 100755
--- a/update-translations.sh
+++ b/update-translations.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 set -ex
 
+# Any non-app directories added here must also be added to settings.LOCALE_PATHS
 LOCALE_DIRS="dashboard/locale/ docs/locale/ locale/"
 
 tx pull -a -f --minimum-perc=70