diff --git a/src/charset.cpp b/src/charset.cpp
index 092676b2..f68c7c4f 100644
--- a/src/charset.cpp
+++ b/src/charset.cpp
@@ -109,9 +109,9 @@ void charset::convert(const string& in, string& out, const charset& source, cons
 }
 
 
-const charset charset::getLocaleCharset()
+const charset charset::getLocalCharset()
 {
-	return (platform::getHandler()->getLocaleCharset());
+	return (platform::getHandler()->getLocalCharset());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/platforms/posix/posixHandler.cpp b/src/platforms/posix/posixHandler.cpp
index 371da4d6..f06c865f 100644
--- a/src/platforms/posix/posixHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/platforms/posix/posixHandler.cpp
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ const vmime::datetime posixHandler::getCurrentLocalTime() const
 }
 
 
-const vmime::charset posixHandler::getLocaleCharset() const
+const vmime::charset posixHandler::getLocalCharset() const
 {
 	const PLockHelper lock;
 
diff --git a/src/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.cpp b/src/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.cpp
index 8bbfe37b..b4f605ec 100644
--- a/src/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.cpp
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ const vmime::datetime windowsHandler::getCurrentLocalTime() const
 }
 
 
-const vmime::charset windowsHandler::getLocaleCharset() const
+const vmime::charset windowsHandler::getLocalCharset() const
 {
 #if VMIME_HAVE_MLANG
 	char szCharset[256];
diff --git a/src/text.cpp b/src/text.cpp
index d1ae6075..05353b08 100644
--- a/src/text.cpp
+++ b/src/text.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ text::text(const string& t, const charset& ch)
 
 text::text(const string& t)
 {
-	createFromString(t, charset::getLocaleCharset());
+	createFromString(t, charset::getLocalCharset());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/word.cpp b/src/word.cpp
index 008745ef..b558b842 100644
--- a/src/word.cpp
+++ b/src/word.cpp
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ namespace vmime
 
 
 word::word()
-	: m_charset(charset::getLocaleCharset())
+	: m_charset(charset::getLocalCharset())
 {
 }
 
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ word::word(const word& w)
 }
 
 
-word::word(const string& buffer) // Defaults to locale charset
-	: m_buffer(buffer), m_charset(charset::getLocaleCharset())
+word::word(const string& buffer) // Defaults to local charset
+	: m_buffer(buffer), m_charset(charset::getLocalCharset())
 {
 }
 
@@ -696,7 +696,7 @@ word& word::operator=(const word& w)
 word& word::operator=(const string& s)
 {
 	m_buffer = s;
-	m_charset = charset::getLocaleCharset();
+	m_charset = charset::getLocalCharset();
 	return (*this);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/parser/textTest.cpp b/tests/parser/textTest.cpp
index d2047f02..0261a72f 100644
--- a/tests/parser/textTest.cpp
+++ b/tests/parser/textTest.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ VMIME_TEST_SUITE_BEGIN
 
 		VASSERT_EQ("2.1", 1, t2.getWordCount());
 		VASSERT_EQ("2.2", "Test\xa9\xc3", t2.getWordAt(0)->getBuffer());
-		VASSERT_EQ("2.3", vmime::charset::getLocaleCharset(), t2.getWordAt(0)->getCharset());
+		VASSERT_EQ("2.3", vmime::charset::getLocalCharset(), t2.getWordAt(0)->getCharset());
 
 		vmime::text t3("Test\xa9\xc3", vmime::charset(vmime::charsets::ISO8859_13));
 
@@ -241,10 +241,10 @@ VMIME_TEST_SUITE_BEGIN
 
 	void testWordConstructors()
 	{
-		VASSERT_EQ("1.1", vmime::charset::getLocaleCharset(), vmime::word().getCharset());
+		VASSERT_EQ("1.1", vmime::charset::getLocalCharset(), vmime::word().getCharset());
 		VASSERT_EQ("1.2", "", vmime::word().getBuffer());
 
-		VASSERT_EQ("2.1", vmime::charset::getLocaleCharset(), vmime::word("foo").getCharset());
+		VASSERT_EQ("2.1", vmime::charset::getLocalCharset(), vmime::word("foo").getCharset());
 		VASSERT_EQ("2.2", "foo", vmime::word("foo").getBuffer());
 
 		VASSERT_EQ("3.1", "bar", vmime::word("foo", vmime::charset("bar")).getCharset().getName());
diff --git a/vmime/charset.hpp b/vmime/charset.hpp
index e2de7ebb..b88b5eff 100644
--- a/vmime/charset.hpp
+++ b/vmime/charset.hpp
@@ -77,12 +77,12 @@ public:
 
 	/** Returns the default charset used on the system.
 	  *
-	  * This function simply calls <code>platformHandler::getLocaleCharset()</code>
+	  * This function simply calls <code>platformHandler::getLocalCharset()</code>
 	  * and is provided for convenience.
 	  *
 	  * @return system default charset
 	  */
-	static const charset getLocaleCharset();
+	static const charset getLocalCharset();
 
 	/** Convert a string buffer from one charset to another
 	  * charset (in-memory conversion)
diff --git a/vmime/platform.hpp b/vmime/platform.hpp
index fc1b4ea4..cb86dfd8 100644
--- a/vmime/platform.hpp
+++ b/vmime/platform.hpp
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ public:
 
 		/** Return the charset used on the system.
 		  *
-		  * @return locale charset
+		  * @return local charset
 		  */
-		virtual const charset getLocaleCharset() const = 0;
+		virtual const charset getLocalCharset() const = 0;
 
 		/** This function is called when VMime library is waiting for
 		  * something (for example, it is called when there is no data
diff --git a/vmime/platforms/posix/posixHandler.hpp b/vmime/platforms/posix/posixHandler.hpp
index 0d6b9d19..4bf3a220 100644
--- a/vmime/platforms/posix/posixHandler.hpp
+++ b/vmime/platforms/posix/posixHandler.hpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public:
 
 	const vmime::datetime getCurrentLocalTime() const;
 
-	const vmime::charset getLocaleCharset() const;
+	const vmime::charset getLocalCharset() const;
 
 	const vmime::string getHostName() const;
 
diff --git a/vmime/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.hpp b/vmime/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.hpp
index 2b61c1e7..5e95d65b 100644
--- a/vmime/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.hpp
+++ b/vmime/platforms/windows/windowsHandler.hpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public:
 
 	const vmime::datetime getCurrentLocalTime() const;
 
-	const vmime::charset getLocaleCharset() const;
+	const vmime::charset getLocalCharset() const;
 
 	const vmime::string getHostName() const;
 
diff --git a/vmime/word.hpp b/vmime/word.hpp
index 73312f6c..2622f322 100644
--- a/vmime/word.hpp
+++ b/vmime/word.hpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public:
 
 	word();
 	word(const word& w);
-	word(const string& buffer); // Defaults to locale charset
+	word(const string& buffer); // Defaults to local charset
 	word(const string& buffer, const charset& charset);
 
 	/** Return the raw data for this encoded word.