diff --git a/src/espeak-ng.c b/src/espeak-ng.c
index 94c62513..23854942 100644
--- a/src/espeak-ng.c
+++ b/src/espeak-ng.c
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 
 	if (voicename[0] == 0)
-		strcpy(voicename, "en");
+		strcpy(voicename, ESPEAKNG_DEFAULT_VOICE);
 
 	result = espeak_ng_SetVoiceByName(voicename);
 	if (result != ENS_OK) {
diff --git a/src/include/espeak-ng/espeak_ng.h b/src/include/espeak-ng/espeak_ng.h
index e25fdb35..36d2682b 100644
--- a/src/include/espeak-ng/espeak_ng.h
+++ b/src/include/espeak-ng/espeak_ng.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ extern "C"
 #define ESPEAK_NG_API
 #endif
 
+#define ESPEAKNG_DEFAULT_VOICE "en"
+
 typedef enum {
 	ENS_GROUP_MASK               = 0x70000000,
 	ENS_GROUP_ERRNO              = 0x00000000, /* Values 0-255 map to errno error codes. */
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
index 47a15209..f657af08 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ voice_t *LoadVoice(const char *vname, int control)
 			return NULL;
 	} else {
 		if (voicename[0] == 0)
-			strcpy(voicename, "en");
+			strcpy(voicename, ESPEAKNG_DEFAULT_VOICE);
 
 		sprintf(path_voices, "%s%cvoices%c", path_home, PATHSEP, PATHSEP);
 		sprintf(buf, "%s%s", path_voices, voicename); // look in the main voices directory
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ char const *SelectVoice(espeak_VOICE *voice_select, int *found)
 
 		if (voice_select2.name == NULL) {
 			if ((voice_select2.name = voice_select2.identifier) == NULL)
-				voice_select2.name = "default";
+				voice_select2.name = ESPEAKNG_DEFAULT_VOICE;
 		}
 
 		strncpy0(buf, voice_select2.name, sizeof(buf));
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ char const *SelectVoice(espeak_VOICE *voice_select, int *found)
 	if (nv == 0) {
 		// no matching voice, choose the default
 		*found = 0;
-		if ((voices[0] = SelectVoiceByName(voices_list, "default")) != NULL)
+		if ((voices[0] = SelectVoiceByName(voices_list, ESPEAKNG_DEFAULT_VOICE)) != NULL)
 			nv = 1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/api.c b/tests/api.c
index e474a039..cff84996 100644
--- a/tests/api.c
+++ b/tests/api.c
@@ -333,18 +333,18 @@ test_espeak_set_voice_by_properties_empty()
 
 	assert(espeak_SetVoiceByProperties(&properties) == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder == NULL);
 
 	const char *test = "One two three.";
 	assert(espeak_Synth(test, strlen(test)+1, 0, POS_CHARACTER, 0, espeakCHARS_AUTO, NULL, NULL) == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder != NULL);
 
 	assert(espeak_Synchronize() == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder != NULL);
 
 	assert(espeak_Terminate() == EE_OK);
@@ -373,18 +373,18 @@ test_espeak_set_voice_by_properties_blank_language()
 
 	assert(espeak_SetVoiceByProperties(&properties) == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder == NULL);
 
 	const char *test = "One two three.";
 	assert(espeak_Synth(test, strlen(test)+1, 0, POS_CHARACTER, 0, espeakCHARS_AUTO, NULL, NULL) == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder != NULL);
 
 	assert(espeak_Synchronize() == EE_OK);
 	assert(translator != NULL);
-	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "af") == 0);
+	assert(strcmp(translator->dictionary_name, "en") == 0);
 	assert(p_decoder != NULL);
 
 	assert(espeak_Terminate() == EE_OK);