diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/nlsfuncs.cc b/winsup/cygwin/nlsfuncs.cc
index 6e2681c86..6722dd9dd 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/nlsfuncs.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/nlsfuncs.cc
@@ -127,8 +127,17 @@ __get_rfc5646_from_locale (const char *name, wchar_t *win_locale)
   c = wcschr (locale, '_');
   if (!c)
     {
-      set_errno (ENOENT);
-      return -1;
+      /* try if the locale can be resolved from the language tag
+         fix up Linux-only locale first */
+      if (!wcscmp (locale, L"ber"))
+	wcscpy (locale, L"tzm");
+      if (ResolveLocaleName (locale, wlocale, ENCODING_LEN + 1) <= 0)
+	{
+	  set_errno (ENOENT);
+	  return -1;
+	}
+      wcpcpy (win_locale, wlocale);
+      return 1;
     }
 
   /* Convert to RFC 5646 syntax. */