diff --git a/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.cpp b/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.cpp
index d2aae0d4e..f4cbc800d 100644
--- a/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.cpp
@@ -43,9 +43,11 @@ LocaleConfiguration::fromLanguageAndLocation( const QString& languageLocale,
                                               const QStringList& availableLocales,
                                               const QString& countryCode )
 {
-    LocaleConfiguration lc = LocaleConfiguration();
+    LocaleConfiguration lc;
+
+    // Note that the documentation how this works is in packages.conf
     QString language = languageLocale.split( '_' ).first();
-    lc.myLanguageLocaleBcp47 = QLocale(language).bcp47Name();
+    lc.myLanguageLocaleBcp47 = QLocale(language).bcp47Name().toLower();
 
     QStringList linesForLanguage;
     for ( const QString &line : availableLocales )
@@ -288,7 +290,7 @@ LocaleConfiguration::isEmpty() const
 
 
 QMap< QString, QString >
-LocaleConfiguration::toMap()
+LocaleConfiguration::toMap() const
 {
     QMap< QString, QString > map;
 
@@ -324,3 +326,9 @@ LocaleConfiguration::toMap()
 
     return map;
 }
+
+QString
+LocaleConfiguration::toBcp47() const
+{
+    return myLanguageLocaleBcp47;
+}
diff --git a/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.h b/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.h
index 6eca97976..4f6cde556 100644
--- a/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.h
+++ b/src/modules/locale/LocaleConfiguration.h
@@ -35,16 +35,21 @@ public:
 
     bool isEmpty() const;
 
+    QMap< QString, QString > toMap() const;
+    // Note that the documentation how this works is in packages.conf
+    QString toBcp47() const;
+
     // These become all uppercase in locale.conf, but we keep them lowercase here to
     // avoid confusion with locale.h.
     QString lang, lc_numeric, lc_time, lc_monetary, lc_paper, lc_name, lc_address,
             lc_telephone, lc_measurement, lc_identification;
-    QString myLanguageLocaleBcp47;
-    QMap< QString, QString > toMap();
 
     // If the user has explicitly selected language (from the dialog)
     // or numbers format, set these to avoid implicit changes to them.
     bool explicit_lang, explicit_lc;
+
+private:
+    QString myLanguageLocaleBcp47;
 };
 
 #endif // LOCALECONFIGURATION_H
diff --git a/src/modules/locale/LocalePage.cpp b/src/modules/locale/LocalePage.cpp
index 27d63f48e..aeda2c44a 100644
--- a/src/modules/locale/LocalePage.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/locale/LocalePage.cpp
@@ -489,8 +489,10 @@ LocalePage::updateGlobalStorage()
             ->insert( "locationRegion", location.region );
     Calamares::JobQueue::instance()->globalStorage()
             ->insert( "locationZone", location.zone );
-    Calamares::JobQueue::instance()->globalStorage()
-            ->insert( "locale", m_selectedLocaleConfiguration.myLanguageLocaleBcp47);
+
+    const QString bcp47 = m_selectedLocaleConfiguration.toBcp47();
+    Calamares::JobQueue::instance()->globalStorage()->insert( "locale", bcp47 );
+    cDebug() << "Updated locale globals, BCP47=" << bcp47;
 
     // If we're in chroot mode (normal install mode), then we immediately set the
     // timezone on the live system.
diff --git a/src/modules/packages/main.py b/src/modules/packages/main.py
index b246244f5..d9741287b 100644
--- a/src/modules/packages/main.py
+++ b/src/modules/packages/main.py
@@ -332,7 +332,10 @@ def subst_locale(plist):
     """
     locale = libcalamares.globalstorage.value("locale")
     if not locale:
-        return plist
+        # It is possible to skip the locale-setting entirely.
+        # Then pretend it is "en", so that {LOCALE}-decorated
+        # package names are removed from the list.
+        locale = "en"
 
     ret = []
     for packagedata in plist:
@@ -378,20 +381,20 @@ def run_operations(pkgman, entry):
     global group_packages, completed_packages, mode_packages
 
     for key in entry.keys():
-        entry[key] = subst_locale(entry[key])
-        group_packages = len(entry[key])
+        package_list = subst_locale(entry[key])
+        group_packages = len(package_list)
         if key == "install":
             _change_mode(INSTALL)
-            if all([isinstance(x, str) for x in entry[key]]):
-                pkgman.install(entry[key])
+            if all([isinstance(x, str) for x in package_list]):
+                pkgman.install(package_list)
             else:
-                for package in entry[key]:
+                for package in package_list:
                     pkgman.install_package(package)
         elif key == "try_install":
             _change_mode(INSTALL)
             # we make a separate package manager call for each package so a
             # single failing package won't stop all of them
-            for package in entry[key]:
+            for package in package_list:
                 try:
                     pkgman.install_package(package)
                 except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
@@ -400,10 +403,10 @@ def run_operations(pkgman, entry):
                     libcalamares.utils.warning(warn_text)
         elif key == "remove":
             _change_mode(REMOVE)
-            pkgman.remove(entry[key])
+            pkgman.remove(package_list)
         elif key == "try_remove":
             _change_mode(REMOVE)
-            for package in entry[key]:
+            for package in package_list:
                 try:
                     pkgman.remove([package])
                 except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
@@ -412,9 +415,9 @@ def run_operations(pkgman, entry):
                     libcalamares.utils.warning(warn_text)
         elif key == "localInstall":
             _change_mode(INSTALL)
-            pkgman.install(entry[key], from_local=True)
+            pkgman.install(package_list, from_local=True)
 
-        completed_packages += len(entry[key])
+        completed_packages += len(package_list)
         libcalamares.job.setprogress(completed_packages * 1.0 / total_packages)
         libcalamares.utils.debug(pretty_name())
 
@@ -458,7 +461,7 @@ def run():
     completed_packages = 0
     for op in operations:
         for packagelist in op.values():
-            total_packages += len(packagelist)
+            total_packages += len(subst_locale(packagelist))
 
     if not total_packages:
         # Avoids potential divide-by-zero in progress reporting
diff --git a/src/modules/packages/packages.conf b/src/modules/packages/packages.conf
index 60c86791b..ae141ee3a 100644
--- a/src/modules/packages/packages.conf
+++ b/src/modules/packages/packages.conf
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ update_db: true
 #     pre-script: touch /tmp/installing-vi
 #     post-script: rm -f /tmp/installing-vi
 #
-# The pre- and post-scripts are optional, but not both optional: using
+# The pre- and post-scripts are optional, but you cannot leave both out: using
 # "package: vi" with neither script option will trick Calamares into
 # trying to install a package named "package: vi", which is unlikely to work.
 #
@@ -84,11 +84,16 @@ update_db: true
 # packages for software based on the selected system locale. By including
 # the string LOCALE in the package name, the following happens:
 #
-# - if the system locale is English (generally US English; en_GB is a valid
-#   localization), then the package is not installed at all,
-# - otherwise $LOCALE or ${LOCALE} is replaced by the Bcp47 name of the selected
-#   system locale, e.g. nl_BE. Note that just plain LOCALE will not be replaced,
-#   so foo-LOCALE will be unchanged, while foo-$LOCALE will be changed.
+# - if the system locale is English (any variety), then the package is not
+#   installed at all,
+# - otherwise $LOCALE or ${LOCALE} is replaced by the **lower-cased** BCP47
+#   name of the **language** part of the selected system locale (not the
+#   country/region/dialect part), e.g. selecting *nl_BE* will use *nl*
+#   here.
+#
+# Take care that just plain LOCALE will not be replaced, so foo-LOCALE will
+# be left unchanged, while foo-$LOCALE will be changed. However, foo-LOCALE
+# **will** be removed from the list of packages, if English is selected.
 #
 # The following installs localizations for vi, if they are relevant; if
 # there is no localization, installation continues normally.
@@ -127,6 +132,7 @@ update_db: true
 operations:
   - install:
     - vi
+    - vi-${LOCALE}
     - wget
     - binutils
   - remove:
diff --git a/src/modules/welcome/welcome.conf b/src/modules/welcome/welcome.conf
index 18e71b1ef..b7ce5cfcd 100644
--- a/src/modules/welcome/welcome.conf
+++ b/src/modules/welcome/welcome.conf
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@ requirements:
     # If any of these conditions are not met, the user cannot
     # continue past the welcome page.
     required:
-        - storage
+        # - storage
         - ram
-        - root
+        # - root