--- arch.py.orig	2014-12-14 10:07:29.035974000 -0600
+++ arch.py	2014-12-14 10:35:40.704432561 -0600
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@
 
 
 class Distro(distros.Distro):
-    locale_conf_fn = "/etc/locale.gen"
+    locale_gen_fn = "/etc/locale.gen"
+    locale_conf_fn = "/etc/locale.conf"
     network_conf_dir = "/etc/netctl"
     resolve_conf_fn = "/etc/resolv.conf"
     init_cmd = ['systemctl']  # init scripts
@@ -46,12 +47,22 @@
 
     def apply_locale(self, locale, out_fn=None):
         if not out_fn:
-            out_fn = self.locale_conf_fn
+            out_fn = self.locale_gen_fn
         util.subp(['locale-gen', '-G', locale], capture=False)
         # "" provides trailing newline during join
         lines = [
             util.make_header(),
-            'LANG="%s"' % (locale),
+            '%s' % (locale),
+            "",
+        ]
+        util.write_file(out_fn, "\n".join(lines))
+
+        # expected: locale = "en_us.UTF-8 UTF-8" (lang.codepage codepage)
+        out_fn = self.locale_conf_fn
+        lines = [
+            util.make_header(),
+            'LANG="%s"' % (locale.split(' ',1)[0]),
+            'LC_COLLATE="C"',
             "",
         ]
         util.write_file(out_fn, "\n".join(lines))