diff --git a/src/reports.c b/src/reports.c
index 318660024..f904f5799 100644
--- a/src/reports.c
+++ b/src/reports.c
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ size_t report_status(const unit * u, const struct locale *lang, char *fsbuf, siz
 
     if (!status) {
         const char *lname = locale_name(lang);
-        struct locale *wloc = get_or_create_locale(lname);
+        struct locale *wloc = get_locale(lname);
         log_warning("no translation for combat status %s in %s", combatstatus[u->status], lname);
         locale_setstring(wloc, combatstatus[u->status], combatstatus[u->status]+7);
         len = strlcpy(fsbuf, combatstatus[u->status]+7, buflen);