diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile b/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
index edb021c5f8cda3ad00f4770a3ed5bd5331ca5476..e8a03aceceb11fe88b5552a0952431866213ee42 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/Makefile
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ CFLAGS +=	-pipe
 ifeq ($(strip $(NLS)),true)
 	INSTALL_NLS += install-gmo
 	COMPILE_NLS += create-gmo
+	CFLAGS += -DNLS
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(strip $(CPUFREQ_BENCH)),true)
diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/utils/helpers/helpers.h b/tools/power/cpupower/utils/helpers/helpers.h
index 7a83022733b2e49b2162f0eb14187756f4305ee6..2747e738efb04d3fa1a53e7686162240cfc7a7ec 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/utils/helpers/helpers.h
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/utils/helpers/helpers.h
@@ -16,11 +16,20 @@
 #include "helpers/bitmask.h"
 
 /* Internationalization ****************************/
+#ifdef NLS
+
 #define _(String) gettext(String)
 #ifndef gettext_noop
 #define gettext_noop(String) String
 #endif
 #define N_(String) gettext_noop(String)
+
+#else /* !NLS */
+
+#define _(String) String
+#define N_(String) String
+
+#endif
 /* Internationalization ****************************/
 
 extern int run_as_root;