diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c51ce806..83d399dc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,5 +28,8 @@ AGENTS.md
 
 *.log
 
+# Compiled gettext catalogs — build artifacts, generated into OUT_DIR by rog-control-center/build.rs
+/rog-control-center/translations/*/LC_MESSAGES/*.mo
+
 # Git should not follow this IN ANY CASE
 Cargo.lock
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 96eea57f..d1c825bd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ LEDCFG := aura_support.ron
 
 DESTDIR_REALPATH := $(if $(DESTDIR),$(shell realpath $(DESTDIR)),)
 
-SRC := Cargo.toml Makefile $(shell find -type f -wholename '**/src/*.rs')
+SRC := Cargo.toml Makefile $(wildcard */build.rs) $(shell find -type f -wholename '**/src/*.rs') $(shell find rog-control-center/translations)
 
 STRIP_BINARIES ?= 0
 
@@ -96,11 +96,17 @@ install-rog_gui: target/$(TARGET)/$(BIN_ROG)
 
 install-program: install-asusd install-asus-shutdown install-asusctl install-asusd_user install-rog_gui
 
-install-data-rog_gui:
+install-data-rog_gui: target/$(TARGET)/$(BIN_ROG)
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) "./rog-control-center/data/$(APP_ID).desktop" "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/applications/$(APP_ID).desktop"
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) "./rog-control-center/data/$(BIN_ROG).png" "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/$(BIN_ROG).png"
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) "./rog-control-center/data/$(APP_ID).metainfo.xml" "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/metainfo/$(APP_ID).metainfo.xml"
 	cd rog-aura/data/layouts && find . -type f -name "*.ron" -exec $(INSTALL_DATA) "{}" "$(DESTDIR_REALPATH)$(datarootdir)/rog-gui/layouts/{}" \;
+	set -- $$(ls -t target/$(TARGET)/build/$(BIN_ROG)-*/out/translations/*/LC_MESSAGES/$(BIN_ROG).mo 2>/dev/null); \
+	if [ $$# -eq 0 ]; then \
+		echo "no compiled translations found, skipping locale install" >&2; \
+	else \
+		cd "$${1%/*/*/*}" && find . -type f -name "$(BIN_ROG).mo" -exec $(INSTALL_DATA) "{}" "$(DESTDIR_REALPATH)$(datarootdir)/locale/{}" \; ; \
+	fi
 
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) "./data/icons/asus_notif_yellow.png" "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/asus_notif_yellow.png"
 	$(INSTALL_DATA) "./data/icons/asus_notif_green.png" "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/asus_notif_green.png"
@@ -139,6 +145,7 @@ uninstall:
 	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/applications/$(BIN_ROG).desktop"
 	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/$(BIN_ROG).png"
 	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/metainfo/$(APP_ID).metainfo.xml"
+	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)"/locale/*/LC_MESSAGES/$(BIN_ROG).mo
 
 	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/$(BIN_C)"
 	rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/$(BIN_D)"
diff --git a/distro-packaging/PKGBUILD b/distro-packaging/PKGBUILD
index 266dec47..8d559333 100644
--- a/distro-packaging/PKGBUILD
+++ b/distro-packaging/PKGBUILD
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ url="https://github.com/OpenGamingCollective/asusctl"
 license=('MPL-2.0')
 depends=('libusb' 'udev')
 optdepends=()
-makedepends=('git' 'rust' 'llvm' 'clang' 'at-spi2-core' 'cairo' 'gtk3')
+makedepends=('git' 'rust' 'llvm' 'clang' 'at-spi2-core' 'cairo' 'gtk3' 'gettext')
 provides=()
 conflicts=('asusctl-git' 'tlp')
 
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ _package-asusctl() {
 	rm -rf "$pkgdir"/usr/share/icons
 	rm -rf "$pkgdir"/usr/share/applications
 	rm -rf "$pkgdir"/usr/share/metainfo
+	rm -rf "$pkgdir"/usr/share/locale
 }
 
 _package-rog-control-center() {
diff --git a/rog-control-center/README.md b/rog-control-center/README.md
index 4804c6a3..39fde654 100644
--- a/rog-control-center/README.md
+++ b/rog-control-center/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ You can help with translations by following https://slint.dev/releases/1.1.0/doc
 
 Begin by copying `rog-control-center/translations/en/rog-control-center.po` to `rog-control-center/translations/<YOUR LOCALE>/rog-control-center.po`, then edit that file.
 
-Run `msgfmt rog-control-center/translations/<YOUR LOCALE>/rog-control-center.po -o rog-control-center/translations/<YOUR LOCALE>/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo` to make the binary formatted translation where `<YOUR LOCALE>` is changed to your translation locale.
+The binary catalogs are compiled from the `.po` sources at build time, so rebuild to pick up your edits. This needs `msgfmt` from gettext installed.
 
 To test you local translations run `RUST_TRANSLATIONS=1 rog-control-center`.
diff --git a/rog-control-center/build.rs b/rog-control-center/build.rs
index 8887c316..4e283ed5 100644
--- a/rog-control-center/build.rs
+++ b/rog-control-center/build.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::path::PathBuf;
 use slint_build::CompilerConfiguration;
 
 fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
-    // write_locales();
+    compile_locales()?;
     let root = env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR");
     let mut main = PathBuf::from(root);
     main.push("ui/main_window.slint");
@@ -21,3 +21,52 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     )?;
     Ok(())
 }
+
+/// Compile the .po sources into gettext catalogs under `OUT_DIR`, and export
+/// that location as `ROGCC_TRANSLATIONS_DIR` for the runtime to load from.
+fn compile_locales() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let sources = PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("translations");
+    let out = PathBuf::from(std::env::var("OUT_DIR")?).join("translations");
+
+    println!("cargo:rustc-env=ROGCC_TRANSLATIONS_DIR={}/", out.display());
+    // Catches locales being added or removed, not just edited
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}", sources.display());
+
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&out)?;
+
+    let mut compiled = Vec::new();
+    for entry in std::fs::read_dir(&sources)? {
+        let entry = entry?;
+        let po = entry.path().join("rog-control-center.po");
+        // `en` is the extraction template and every msgstr is empty in it
+        if entry.file_name() == "en" || !po.exists() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}", po.display());
+
+        let dir = out.join(entry.file_name()).join("LC_MESSAGES");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir)?;
+        let mo = dir.join("rog-control-center.mo");
+
+        let status = std::process::Command::new("msgfmt")
+            .arg("-o")
+            .arg(&mo)
+            .arg(&po)
+            .status()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("could not run msgfmt, is gettext installed? ({e})"))?;
+        if !status.success() {
+            return Err(format!("msgfmt failed for {} ({status})", po.display()).into());
+        }
+        compiled.push(entry.file_name());
+    }
+
+    // Cargo never clears OUT_DIR, so catalogs of removed locales would linger
+    // and still be picked up by the install step
+    for entry in std::fs::read_dir(&out)? {
+        let entry = entry?;
+        if !compiled.contains(&entry.file_name()) {
+            std::fs::remove_dir_all(entry.path())?;
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/rog-control-center/src/main.rs b/rog-control-center/src/main.rs
index b4f11946..814b6bc1 100644
--- a/rog-control-center/src/main.rs
+++ b/rog-control-center/src/main.rs
@@ -187,10 +187,10 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     if std::env::var("RUST_TRANSLATIONS").is_ok() {
         // don't care about content
         log::debug!("---- Using local-dir translations");
-        slint::init_translations!("/usr/share/locale/");
+        slint::init_translations!(env!("ROGCC_TRANSLATIONS_DIR"));
     } else {
         log::debug!("Using system installed translations");
-        slint::init_translations!(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/translations/"));
+        slint::init_translations!("/usr/share/locale/");
     }
 
     // Prefetch supported Aura modes once at startup and move into the
diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/az/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/az/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 612944aa..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/en/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/en/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index a24bf450..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/fr/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/fr/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 31c52e22..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/it/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/it/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d9736ad..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/pt_BR/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/pt_BR/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index b16ace05..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/ru/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/ru/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 34765733..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/tr/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/tr/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index ad28b73a..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/uk_UA/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/uk_UA/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index aae151c4..00000000
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diff --git a/rog-control-center/translations/zh_CN/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo b/rog-control-center/translations/zh_CN/LC_MESSAGES/rog-control-center.mo
deleted file mode 100644
index 4f53eae7..00000000
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