diff --git a/phpgwapi/js/jsapi/egw_lang.js b/phpgwapi/js/jsapi/egw_lang.js
index 351cc9324a..691b32e571 100644
--- a/phpgwapi/js/jsapi/egw_lang.js
+++ b/phpgwapi/js/jsapi/egw_lang.js
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ egw.extend('lang', egw.MODULE_GLOBAL, function() {
 		 */
 		lang: function(_msg, _arg1)
 		{
+			if(typeof _msg !== "string")
+			{
+				egw().debug("warn", "Cannot translate an object", _msg);
+				return _msg;
+			}
 			var translation = _msg;
 			_msg = _msg.toLowerCase();