--- a/lesspipe.sh
+++ b/lesspipe.sh
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@
 PATH=$PATH:${0%%/lesspipe.sh}
 # the current locale in lowercase (or generic utf-8)
 declare -l charmap
-charmap=$(locale -k  charmap) || charmap="charmap=utf-8"
+charmap="charmap=utf-8"
 eval "$charmap"
 
 sep=:					# file name separator