diff --git a/include/boost/process/v1/locale.hpp b/include/boost/process/v1/locale.hpp
index d7d07575..e6b10481 100644
--- a/include/boost/process/v1/locale.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/process/v1/locale.hpp
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@ inline std::locale default_locale()
     std::locale global_loc = std::locale();
     return std::locale(global_loc, new std::codecvt_utf8<wchar_t>);
 # else  // Other POSIX
-    // Return a default locale object.
-    return std::locale();
+    // ISO C calls std::locale("") "the locale-specific native environment", and this
+    // locale is the default for many POSIX-based operating systems such as Linux.
+    return std::locale("");
 # endif
 }