diff --git a/src/FbTk/I18n.cc b/src/FbTk/I18n.cc
index a7ed3381..f53e5edc 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/I18n.cc
+++ b/src/FbTk/I18n.cc
@@ -35,38 +35,96 @@
 
 #include <X11/Xlocale.h>
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTDLIB
-  #include <cstdlib>
-#else
-  #include <stdlib.h>
-#endif
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTRING
-  #include <cstring>
-#else
-  #include <string.h>
-#endif
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTDIO
-  #include <cstdio>
-#else
-  #include <stdio.h>
-#endif
-
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <cstring>
 #include <iostream>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LOCALE_H
+#include <locale.h>
+#endif // HAVE_LOCALE_H
+
+#ifdef HAVE_NL_TYPES_H
+// this is needed for linux libc5 systems
+extern "C" {
+#include <nl_types.h>
+}
+#elif defined(__CYGWIN__) || defined(__EMX__) || defined(__APPLE__)
+extern "C" {
+typedef int nl_catd;
+char *catgets(nl_catd cat, int set_number, int message_number, char *message);
+nl_catd catopen(char *name, int flag);
+void catclose(nl_catd cat);
+}
+
+#endif // HAVE_NL_TYPES_H
+
+
 using std::cerr;
 using std::endl;
 using std::string;
 
-namespace FbTk {
+namespace {
+
+const nl_catd INVALID_CATALOG = ((nl_catd)(-1));
+nl_catd s_catalog_fd = INVALID_CATALOG;
 
-void NLSInit(const char *catalog) {
-    FbStringUtil::init();
-    I18n *i18n = I18n::instance();
-    i18n->openCatalog(catalog);
 }
 
 
-I18n::I18n():m_multibyte(false), m_utf8_translate(false), m_catalog_fd((nl_catd)(-1)) {
+namespace FbTk {
+
+void I18n::init(const char* catalog) {
+    static bool init = false;
+    if (init) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+#if defined(NLS) && defined(HAVE_CATOPEN)
+
+    FbStringUtil::init();
+
+    I18n& i18n = I18n::instance();
+
+    string filename = LOCALEPATH;
+    filename += '/';
+    filename += i18n.m_locale;
+    filename += '/';
+    filename += catalog;
+
+    if (!FileUtil::isRegularFile(filename.c_str()) && i18n.m_locale != "C" && FbStringUtil::haveUTF8()) {
+        // try the UTF-8 catalog, this also picks up situations where
+        // the codeset somehow isn't specified
+
+        // remove everything after @
+        string::size_type index = i18n.m_locale.find('.');
+        // erase all characters starting at index
+        if (index != string::npos)
+            i18n.m_locale.erase(index);
+
+        i18n.m_locale.append(".UTF-8");
+        i18n.m_utf8_translate = true;
+
+        filename = LOCALEPATH;
+        filename += '/';
+        filename += i18n.m_locale;
+        filename += '/';
+        filename += catalog;
+    }
+
+#ifdef MCLoadBySet
+    s_catalog_fd = catopen(filename.c_str(), MCLoadBySet);
+#else // !MCLoadBySet
+    s_catalog_fd = catopen(filename.c_str(), NL_CAT_LOCALE);
+#endif // MCLoadBySet
+
+    if (s_catalog_fd == INVALID_CATALOG) {
+        cerr<<"Warning: Failed to open file("<<filename<<")"<<endl
+            <<"for translation, using default messages."<<endl;
+    }
+#endif // HAVE_CATOPEN
+}
+
+I18n::I18n():m_multibyte(false), m_utf8_translate(false) {
 #if defined(HAVE_SETLOCALE) && defined(NLS)
     //make sure we don't get 0 to m_locale string
     char *temp = setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, "");
@@ -79,7 +137,7 @@ I18n::I18n():m_multibyte(false), m_utf8_translate(false), m_catalog_fd((nl_catd)
 
 #if defined(HAVE_SETLOCALE) && defined(NLS)
 
-    } else {		
+    } else {
 
         setlocale(LC_TIME, "");
         // MB_CUR_MAX returns the size of a char in the current locale
@@ -91,11 +149,11 @@ I18n::I18n():m_multibyte(false), m_utf8_translate(false), m_catalog_fd((nl_catd)
         // remove everything after @
         string::size_type index = m_locale.find('@');
         if (index != string::npos)
-            m_locale.erase(index); //erase all characters starting at index 				
-        // remove everything before =		
+            m_locale.erase(index); //erase all characters starting at index
+        // remove everything before =
         index = m_locale.find('=');
-        if (index != string::npos) 
-            m_locale.erase(0,index+1); //erase all characters starting up to index 
+        if (index != string::npos)
+            m_locale.erase(0,index+1); //erase all characters starting up to index
     }
 #endif // defined(HAVE_SETLOCALE) && defined(NLS)
 }
@@ -104,83 +162,36 @@ I18n::I18n():m_multibyte(false), m_utf8_translate(false), m_catalog_fd((nl_catd)
 I18n::~I18n() {
 
 #if defined(NLS) && defined(HAVE_CATCLOSE)
-    if (m_catalog_fd != (nl_catd)-1)
-        catclose(m_catalog_fd);
+    if (s_catalog_fd != (nl_catd)-1)
+        catclose(s_catalog_fd);
 #endif // HAVE_CATCLOSE
 }
 
-I18n *I18n::instance() {
+I18n& I18n::instance() {
     static I18n singleton; //singleton object
-    return &singleton;
+    return singleton;
 }
 
-void I18n::openCatalog(const char *catalog) {
-#if defined(NLS) && defined(HAVE_CATOPEN)
-
-    string catalog_filename = LOCALEPATH;
-    catalog_filename += '/';
-    catalog_filename += m_locale;
-    catalog_filename += '/';
-    catalog_filename += catalog;
-
-    if (!FileUtil::isRegularFile(catalog_filename.c_str()) && m_locale != "C" && FbStringUtil::haveUTF8()) {
-        // try the UTF-8 catalog, this also picks up situations where
-        // the codeset somehow isn't specified
-
-        // remove everything after @
-        string::size_type index = m_locale.find('.');
-        // erase all characters starting at index
-        if (index != string::npos)
-            m_locale.erase(index); 
-
-        m_locale.append(".UTF-8");
-        m_utf8_translate = true;
-
-        catalog_filename = LOCALEPATH;
-        catalog_filename += '/';
-        catalog_filename += m_locale;
-        catalog_filename += '/';
-        catalog_filename += catalog;
-    }
-
-#ifdef MCLoadBySet
-    m_catalog_fd = catopen(catalog_filename.c_str(), MCLoadBySet);
-#else // !MCLoadBySet
-    m_catalog_fd = catopen(catalog_filename.c_str(), NL_CAT_LOCALE);
-#endif // MCLoadBySet
-
-    if (m_catalog_fd == (nl_catd)-1) {
-        cerr<<"Warning: Failed to open file("<<catalog_filename<<")"<<endl;
-        cerr<<"for translation, using default messages."<<endl;
-    }
-	
-#else // !HAVE_CATOPEN
-	
-    m_catalog_fd = (nl_catd)-1;
-#endif // HAVE_CATOPEN
-}
-
-
-// Translate_FB means it'll become an FbString that goes to X for Fonts, 
+// Translate_FB means it'll become an FbString that goes to X for Fonts,
 // No translate means it stays in the local encoding, for printing to the
 // console.
-FbString I18n::getMessage(int set_number, int message_number, 
+FbString I18n::getMessage(int set_number, int message_number,
                              const char *default_message, bool translate_fb) const {
 
 #if defined(NLS) && defined(HAVE_CATGETS)
-    if (m_catalog_fd != (nl_catd)-1) {
-        const char *ret = catgets(m_catalog_fd, set_number, message_number, default_message);
+    if (s_catalog_fd != INVALID_CATALOG) {
+        const char *ret = catgets(s_catalog_fd, set_number, message_number, default_message);
         // can't translate, leave it in raw ascii (utf-8 compatible)
         if (ret == default_message || ret == NULL)
             return default_message;
 
-        if (!m_utf8_translate && translate_fb) 
+        if (!m_utf8_translate && translate_fb)
             // Local input, UTF-8 output
             return FbStringUtil::LocaleStrToFb(ret);
         else if (m_utf8_translate && !translate_fb)
             // UTF-8 input, local output
             return FbStringUtil::FbStrToLocale(ret);
-        else 
+        else
             // UTF-8 input, UTF-8 output OR
             // local input, local output
             return ret;
diff --git a/src/FbTk/I18n.hh b/src/FbTk/I18n.hh
index 4ff4b77b..6de2b8c3 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/I18n.hh
+++ b/src/FbTk/I18n.hh
@@ -30,33 +30,10 @@
 
 #include "FbString.hh"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LOCALE_H
-#include <locale.h>
-#endif // HAVE_LOCALE_H
-
-#ifdef HAVE_NL_TYPES_H
-// this is needed for linux libc5 systems
-extern "C" {
-#include <nl_types.h>
-}
-#elif defined(__CYGWIN__) || defined(__EMX__) || defined(__APPLE__)
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif // __cplusplus
-typedef int nl_catd;
-char *catgets(nl_catd cat, int set_number, int message_number, char *message);
-nl_catd catopen(char *name, int flag);
-void catclose(nl_catd cat);
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif // __cplusplus
-
-#endif // HAVE_NL_TYPES_H
-
 // Some defines to help out
 #ifdef NLS
 #define _FB_USES_NLS \
-    FbTk::I18n &i18n = *FbTk::I18n::instance()
+    FbTk::I18n &i18n = FbTk::I18n::instance()
 
 // ignore the description, it's for helping translators
 
@@ -97,27 +74,23 @@ namespace FbTk {
 
 class I18n {
 public:
-    static I18n *instance();
+
+    static void init(const char*);
+    static I18n& instance();
+
     const char *getLocale() const { return m_locale.c_str(); }
     bool multibyte() const { return m_multibyte; }
-    const nl_catd &getCatalogFd() const { return m_catalog_fd; }
-
     FbString getMessage(int set_number, int message_number, 
-                           const char *default_messsage = 0, bool translate_fb = false) const;
+                        const char *default_messsage = 0, bool translate_fb = false) const;
 
-    void openCatalog(const char *catalog);
 private:
     I18n();
     ~I18n();
     std::string m_locale;
-    bool m_multibyte, m_utf8_translate;
-    nl_catd m_catalog_fd;
-
-
+    bool m_multibyte;
+    bool m_utf8_translate;
 };
 
-void NLSInit(const char *);
-
 } // end namespace FbTk
 
 #endif // I18N_HH
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index 66a5adbb..d1b30465 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ void setupSignalHandling() {
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
-    FbTk::NLSInit("fluxbox.cat");
+    FbTk::I18n::init("fluxbox.cat");
 
     FluxboxCli::Options opts;
     int exitcode = opts.parse(argc, argv);
diff --git a/util/fbsetroot.cc b/util/fbsetroot.cc
index c7876197..28ad26ec 100644
--- a/util/fbsetroot.cc
+++ b/util/fbsetroot.cc
@@ -28,21 +28,9 @@
 
 #include <X11/Xatom.h>
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTRING
-  #include <cstring>
-#else
-  #include <string.h>
-#endif
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTDLIB
-  #include <cstdlib>
-#else
-  #include <stdlib.h>
-#endif
-#ifdef HAVE_CSTDIO
-  #include <cstdio>
-#else
-  #include <stdio.h>
-#endif
+#include <cstring>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <cstdio>
 #include <iostream>
 
 using std::cout;
@@ -382,7 +370,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     char *display_name = (char *) 0;
     int i = 1;
 
-    FbTk::NLSInit("fluxbox.cat");
+    FbTk::I18n::init("fluxbox.cat");
 
     for (; i < argc; i++) {
         if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-display") || !strcmp(argv[i], "--display")) {
diff --git a/util/fluxbox-update_configs.cc b/util/fluxbox-update_configs.cc
index 07b71022..a7d3d4a8 100644
--- a/util/fluxbox-update_configs.cc
+++ b/util/fluxbox-update_configs.cc
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     bool check = 0;
     pid_t fb_pid = 0;
 
-    FbTk::NLSInit("fluxbox.cat");
+    FbTk::I18n::init("fluxbox.cat");
     _FB_USES_NLS;
 
     for (; i < argc; i++) {