diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 87b3bde6..593a9993 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
     "bluebird": "^3.7.2",
     "djv": "^2.1.3-alpha.0",
     "i18next": "^19.0.0",
-    "i18next-http-backend": "^1.0.21",
+    "i18next-fs-backend": "^1.0.7",
     "inflection": "^1.12.0",
     "jbox": "^1.0.8",
     "jquery": "^3.5.1",
diff --git a/src/js/localization.js b/src/js/localization.js
index e15ce290..f6757454 100644
--- a/src/js/localization.js
+++ b/src/js/localization.js
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ const languageFallback = {
 i18n.init = function(cb) {
     getStoredUserLocale(function(userLanguage) {
 
+        const I18NextFsBackend = require('i18next-fs-backend');
+
         i18next
-            .use(i18nextHttpBackend)
+            .use(I18NextFsBackend)
             .init({
                 lng: userLanguage,
                 getAsync: false,
@@ -30,9 +32,10 @@ i18n.init = function(cb) {
                 defaultNS:['messages'],
                 fallbackLng: languageFallback,
                 backend: {
-                    loadPath: '/_locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json',
+                    loadPath: './_locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json',
                     parse: i18n.parseInputFile,
                 },
+                initImmediate: false,
             },
             function(err) {
                 if (err !== undefined) {
diff --git a/src/main.html b/src/main.html
index 392f7915..5b84cfc7 100644
--- a/src/main.html
+++ b/src/main.html
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@
     <!-- CORDOVA_INCLUDE js/cordova_startup.js -->
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/lru_map/lru.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/i18next/i18next.min.js"></script>
-    <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/i18next-http-backend/i18nextHttpBackend.min.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/marked/marked.min.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/universal-ga/lib/analytics.min.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/short-unique-id/dist/short-unique-id.min.js"></script>
diff --git a/src/main_cordova.html b/src/main_cordova.html
index e1e828e9..2ae8e235 100644
--- a/src/main_cordova.html
+++ b/src/main_cordova.html
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
     </div>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/i18next/i18next.min.js"></script>
-    <script type="text/javascript" src="./node_modules/i18next-xhr-backend/i18nextXHRBackend.min.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./js/localization.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="cordova.js"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="./js/main_cordova.js"></script>
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 5f89e883..1fe74939 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3354,12 +3354,10 @@ http-signature@~1.2.0:
     jsprim "^1.2.2"
     sshpk "^1.7.0"
 
-i18next-http-backend@^1.0.21:
-  version "1.0.21"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/i18next-http-backend/-/i18next-http-backend-1.0.21.tgz#cee901b3527dad5165fa91de973b6aa6404c1c37"
-  integrity sha512-UDeHoV2B+31Gr++0KFAVjM5l+SEwePpF6sfDyaDq5ennM9QNJ78PBEMPStwkreEm4h5C8sT7M1JdNQrLcU1Wdg==
-  dependencies:
-    node-fetch "2.6.1"
+i18next-fs-backend@^1.0.7:
+  version "1.0.7"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/i18next-fs-backend/-/i18next-fs-backend-1.0.7.tgz#00ca4587e306f8948740408389dda73461a5d07f"
+  integrity sha512-aAZ3rvshe1Zbl6JSCWrWWqbZS5JpmVNG+84YqLcgdYcm9uAxzw4xWxnA/a3044Nm2PKXE62CT+pIZjk7OEYtTw==
 
 i18next@^19.0.0:
   version "19.5.1"
@@ -4865,11 +4863,6 @@ node-environment-flags@1.0.6:
     object.getownpropertydescriptors "^2.0.3"
     semver "^5.7.0"
 
-node-fetch@2.6.1:
-  version "2.6.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-2.6.1.tgz#045bd323631f76ed2e2b55573394416b639a0052"
-  integrity sha512-V4aYg89jEoVRxRb2fJdAg8FHvI7cEyYdVAh94HH0UIK8oJxUfkjlDQN9RbMx+bEjP7+ggMiFRprSti032Oipxw==
-
 node-pre-gyp@^0.12.0:
   version "0.12.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/node-pre-gyp/-/node-pre-gyp-0.12.0.tgz#39ba4bb1439da030295f899e3b520b7785766149"