diff --git a/Frameworks/buffer/src/buffer.cc b/Frameworks/buffer/src/buffer.cc
index 20820f7f..df0ba013 100644
--- a/Frameworks/buffer/src/buffer.cc
+++ b/Frameworks/buffer/src/buffer.cc
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ OAK_DEBUG_VAR(Buffer_Parsing);
 
 namespace ng
 {
-	buffer_t::buffer_t (char const* str) : _grammar_callback(*this), _revision(0), _next_revision(1), _spelling_language("en")
+	buffer_t::buffer_t (char const* str) : _grammar_callback(*this), _revision(0), _next_revision(1), _spelling_language("")
 	{
 		_meta_data.push_back((_symbols = std::make_shared<symbols_t>()).get());
 		_meta_data.push_back((_marks = std::make_shared<marks_t>()).get());
diff --git a/Frameworks/buffer/tests/t_buffer.mm b/Frameworks/buffer/tests/t_buffer.mm
index fe3f0caa..9018718a 100644
--- a/Frameworks/buffer/tests/t_buffer.mm
+++ b/Frameworks/buffer/tests/t_buffer.mm
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ void test_spelling ()
 {
 	ng::buffer_t buf;
 	buf.set_grammar(TestGrammarItem);
+	buf.set_spelling_language("en");
 	buf.set_live_spelling(true);
 	buf.insert(0, "myfo god\nthat ibs nice\nlamere check\n");
 	buf.bump_revision();
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ void test_spelling_2 ()
 {
 	ng::buffer_t buf;
 	buf.set_grammar(TestGrammarItem);
+	buf.set_spelling_language("en");
 	buf.set_live_spelling(true);
 	buf.insert(0, "it mq xy");
 	buf.bump_revision();
diff --git a/Frameworks/document/src/document.cc b/Frameworks/document/src/document.cc
index 31d796f0..9e169b87 100644
--- a/Frameworks/document/src/document.cc
+++ b/Frameworks/document/src/document.cc
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ namespace document
 		}
 
 		settings_t const settings = settings_for_path(virtual_path(), file_type(), path::parent(_path), document_variables());
-		_buffer->set_spelling_language(settings.get(kSettingsSpellingLanguageKey, "en"));
+		_buffer->set_spelling_language(settings.get(kSettingsSpellingLanguageKey, ""));
 		_buffer->set_live_spelling(settings.get(kSettingsSpellCheckingKey, false));
 
 		D(DBF_Document, bug("done\n"););
diff --git a/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.h b/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.h
index 94bfa532..e692cb46 100644
--- a/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.h
+++ b/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.h
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ namespace ns
 		std::shared_ptr<helper_t> _helper;
 	};
 
-	PUBLIC std::vector<ns::range_t> spellcheck (char const* first, char const* last, std::string const& language = "en", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t());
-	PUBLIC bool is_misspelled (char const* first, char const* last, std::string const& language = "en", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t());
-	inline bool is_misspelled (std::string const& str, std::string const& language = "en", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t()) { return is_misspelled(str.data(), str.data() + str.size(), language, tag); }
+	PUBLIC std::vector<ns::range_t> spellcheck (char const* first, char const* last, std::string const& language = "", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t());
+	PUBLIC bool is_misspelled (char const* first, char const* last, std::string const& language = "", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t());
+	inline bool is_misspelled (std::string const& str, std::string const& language = "", spelling_tag_t const& tag = spelling_tag_t()) { return is_misspelled(str.data(), str.data() + str.size(), language, tag); }
 
 } /* ns */
 
diff --git a/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.mm b/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.mm
index 695a1d69..81aa0040 100644
--- a/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.mm
+++ b/Frameworks/ns/src/spellcheck.mm
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ namespace ns
 	_OutputIter spellcheck (char const* first, char const* last, std::string const& language, long int tag, size_t offset, _OutputIter out)
 	{
 		NSSpellChecker* spellChecker = [NSSpellChecker sharedSpellChecker];
-		NSString* lang               = spellChecker.automaticallyIdentifiesLanguages ? nil : [NSString stringWithCxxString:language];
+		NSString* lang               = language.length() ? [NSString stringWithCxxString:language] : nil;
 		NSString* str                = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:first length:last - first];
 		NSRange range                = [spellChecker checkSpellingOfString:str startingAt:0 language:lang wrap:NO inSpellDocumentWithTag:tag wordCount:NULL];
 
diff --git a/Frameworks/ns/tests/t_spellcheck.mm b/Frameworks/ns/tests/t_spellcheck.mm
index fdffdb2a..cddfca9a 100644
--- a/Frameworks/ns/tests/t_spellcheck.mm
+++ b/Frameworks/ns/tests/t_spellcheck.mm
@@ -4,15 +4,14 @@
 void setup ()
 {
 	NSApplicationLoad();
-	NSSpellChecker* spellChecker = [NSSpellChecker sharedSpellChecker];
-	spellChecker.automaticallyIdentifiesLanguages = NO;
+	[NSSpellChecker sharedSpellChecker];
 }
 
 void test_spellcheck ()
 {
 	std::string const str = "This is mispelled and agan.";
 
-	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length());
+	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length(), "en");
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges.size(), 2);
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges[0].first,  8);
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges[0].last,  17);
@@ -22,15 +21,15 @@ void test_spellcheck ()
 
 void test_misspelled ()
 {
-	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ns::is_misspelled("convinciable"), true);
-	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ns::is_misspelled("convincible"), false);
+	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ns::is_misspelled(std::string("convinciable"), "en"), true);
+	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ns::is_misspelled(std::string("convincible"), "en"), false);
 }
 
 void test_newlines_1 ()
 {
 	std::string const str = "my(my)\n me";
 
-	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length());
+	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length(), "en");
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges.size(), 0);
 }
 
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ void test_newlines_2 ()
 {
 	std::string const str = "my(my)\n qwong";
 
-	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length());
+	std::vector<ns::range_t> ranges = ns::spellcheck(str.data(), str.data() + str.length(), "en");
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges.size(), 1);
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges[0].first, 8);
 	OAK_ASSERT_EQ(ranges[0].last, 13);