diff --git a/imports/locale/shared.lua b/imports/locale/shared.lua
index 946e343..02a2c05 100644
--- a/imports/locale/shared.lua
+++ b/imports/locale/shared.lua
@@ -1,19 +1,21 @@
 ---@type { [string]: string }
 local dict = {}
 
----@param prefix string|nil
 ---@param source { [string]: string }
 ---@param target { [string]: string }
-local function flattenDict(prefix, source, target)
+---@param prefix? string
+local function flattenDict(source, target, prefix)
     for key, value in pairs(source) do
-        local fullKey = prefix and (prefix .. "." .. key) or key
+        local fullKey = prefix and (prefix .. '.' .. key) or key
 
-        if type(value) == "table" then
-            flattenDict(fullKey, value, target)
+        if type(value) == 'table' then
+            flattenDict(value, target, fullKey)
         else
             target[fullKey] = value
         end
     end
+
+    return target
 end
 
 ---@param str string
@@ -37,32 +39,31 @@ function lib.getLocales()
     return dict
 end
 
+local function loadLocale(key)
+    local data = LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, ('locales/%s.json'):format(key))
+
+    if not data then
+        warn(("could not load 'locales/%s.json'"):format(key))
+    end
+
+    return json.decode(data) or {}
+end
+
+local table = lib.table
+
 ---Loads the ox_lib locale module. Prefer using fxmanifest instead (see [docs](https://overextended.dev/ox_lib#usage)).
+---@param key string
 function lib.locale(key)
     local lang = key or lib.getLocaleKey()
-    local locales = json.decode(LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, ('locales/%s.json'):format(lang)))
+    local locales = loadLocale('en')
+
+    if lang ~= 'en' then
+        table.merge(locales, loadLocale(lang))
+    end
 
     table.wipe(dict)
 
-    if not locales then
-        local warning = "could not load 'locales/%s.json'"
-        warn(warning:format(lang))
-
-        if lang ~= 'en' then
-            locales = json.decode(LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, 'locales/en.json'))
-
-            if not locales then
-                warn(warning:format('en'))
-            end
-        end
-
-        if not locales then return end
-    end
-
-    local flattenedDict = {}
-    flattenDict(nil, locales, flattenedDict)
-
-    for k, v in pairs(flattenedDict) do
+    for k, v in pairs(flattenDict(locales, {})) do
         if type(v) == 'string' then
             for var in v:gmatch('${[%w%s%p]-}') do
                 local locale = locales[var:sub(3, -2)]
diff --git a/package/shared/resource/locale/index.ts b/package/shared/resource/locale/index.ts
index 67c24ee..5a75f31 100644
--- a/package/shared/resource/locale/index.ts
+++ b/package/shared/resource/locale/index.ts
@@ -46,23 +46,19 @@ export function getLocale(resource: string, key: string) {
   return locale;
 }
 
-export const initLocale = () => {
-  const lang = GetConvar('ox:locale', 'en');
-  let locales: typeof dict = JSON.parse(LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, `locales/${lang}.json`));
+function loadLocale(key: string): typeof dict {
+  const data = LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, `locales/${key}.json`);
 
-  if (!locales) {
-    console.warn(`could not load 'locales/${lang}.json'`);
+  if (!data) console.warn(`could not load 'locales/${key}.json'`);
 
-    if (lang !== 'en') {
-      locales = JSON.parse(LoadResourceFile(cache.resource, 'locales/en.json'));
+  return JSON.parse(data) || {};
+}
 
-      if (!locales) {
-        console.warn(`could not load 'locales/en.json'`);
-      }
-    }
+export const initLocale = (key?: string) => {
+  const lang = key || GetConvar('ox:locale', 'en');
+  let locales = loadLocale('en');
 
-    if (!locales) return;
-  }
+  if (lang !== 'en') Object.assign(locales, loadLocale(lang));
 
   const flattened = flattenDict(locales, {});