diff --git a/plinth/modules/users/forms.py b/plinth/modules/users/forms.py
index 336cb9e45..28cd80d60 100644
--- a/plinth/modules/users/forms.py
+++ b/plinth/modules/users/forms.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from plinth import forms as plinthForms
 from plinth.errors import ActionError
 from plinth.modules import first_boot, users
 from plinth.modules.security import set_restricted_access
+from plinth.translation import set_language
 from plinth.utils import is_user_admin
 from plinth.models import UserProfile
 
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ class UserUpdateForm(ValidNewUsernameCheckMixin, forms.ModelForm, plinthForms.La
 
         # If user is updating their own profile then only translate the pages
         if self.username == self.request.user.username:
-            self.request.session[translation.LANGUAGE_SESSION_KEY] = user.userprofile.preferred_language
+            set_language(self.request, None, user.userprofile.language)
 
         if commit:
             output = actions.superuser_run('users',
diff --git a/plinth/translation.py b/plinth/translation.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..357a6b7b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plinth/translation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#
+# This file is part of Plinth.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+"""
+Utility methods for managing translations.
+"""
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.contrib.auth.signals import user_logged_in
+from django.dispatch import receiver
+from django.utils import translation
+
+
+def get_language_from_request(request):
+    """Get the language in the session or as separate cookie.
+
+    Django methods should be used for regular cases. This is only useful for
+    very narrow cases.
+
+    """
+    if hasattr(request, 'session'):
+        language_code = request.session.get(translation.LANGUAGE_SESSION_KEY)
+        if language_code:
+            return language_code
+
+    return request.COOKIES.get(settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME)
+
+
+def set_language(request, response, language_code):
+    """Set the language in session or as a separate cookie.
+
+    Sending language code as None removes the preference. If response is None,
+    cookies are not touched and setting/deleting language cookie will not work.
+
+    """
+    if not language_code:
+        if hasattr(request, 'session'):
+            try:
+                del request.session[translation.LANGUAGE_SESSION_KEY]
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+
+        if response:
+            try:
+                response.delete_cookie(settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME)
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+
+        return
+
+    translation.activate(language_code)
+    if hasattr(request, 'session'):
+        request.session[translation.LANGUAGE_SESSION_KEY] = language_code
+    else:
+        response.set_cookie(
+            settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME, language_code,
+            max_age=settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_AGE,
+            path=settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_PATH,
+            domain=settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_DOMAIN,
+        )
diff --git a/plinth/views.py b/plinth/views.py
index b0887581a..e231cd041 100644
--- a/plinth/views.py
+++ b/plinth/views.py
@@ -23,9 +23,7 @@ from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.template.response import TemplateResponse
 from django.views.generic import TemplateView
 from django.views.generic.edit import FormView
-from django.conf import settings
 from django.urls import reverse
-from django.utils import translation
 from django.utils.http import is_safe_url
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from stronghold.decorators import public
@@ -35,6 +33,7 @@ from . import forms, frontpage
 import plinth
 from plinth import package
 from plinth.modules.storage import views as disk_views
+from plinth.translation import get_language_from_request, set_language
 
 REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME = 'next'
 
@@ -76,20 +75,12 @@ class LanguageSelectionView(FormView):
 
     def get_initial(self):
         """Return the initial values for the form."""
-        return {'language': translation.get_language()}
+        return {'language': get_language_from_request(self.request)}
 
     def form_valid(self, form):
         """Set or reset the current language."""
-        selected_language = form.cleaned_data['language']
         response = super().form_valid(form)
-        if not selected_language:
-            response.delete_cookie(settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME)
-        else:
-            translation.activate(selected_language)
-            # send a cookie for selected language
-            response.set_cookie(settings.LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME,
-                                selected_language)
-
+        set_language(self.request, response, form.cleaned_data['language'])
         return response
 
     def get_success_url(self):