diff --git a/src/ejabberd_http.erl b/src/ejabberd_http.erl
index 3e6b54d6c..ce450ebd9 100644
--- a/src/ejabberd_http.erl
+++ b/src/ejabberd_http.erl
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 		request_auth,
 		request_keepalive,
 		request_content_length,
-		request_lang = "en",
+		request_lang = <<"en">>,
 		%% XXX bard: request handlers are configured in
 		%% ejabberd.cfg under the HTTP service.	 For example,
 		%% to have the module test_web handle requests with