diff --git a/client/index.js b/client/index.js
index c9898d83d03..90a17e5e767 100644
--- a/client/index.js
+++ b/client/index.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import flashToToast from './utils/flash-to-toast';
 
 import createApp from '../common/app';
 import provideStore from '../common/app/provide-store';
+import { getLangFromPath } from '../common/app/utils/lang';
 
 // client specific sagas
 import sagas from './sagas';
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ const DOMContainer = document.getElementById('fcc');
 const initialState = isColdStored() ?
   getColdStorage() :
   window.__fcc__.data;
+const primaryLang = getLangFromPath(window.location.pathname);
+
 initialState.app.csrfToken = csrfToken;
 initialState.toasts = flashToToast(window.__fcc__.flash);
 
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ window.__fcc__ = {};
 
 const serviceOptions = { xhrPath: '/services', context: { _csrf: csrfToken } };
 
-const history = useLangRoutes(createHistory)();
+const history = useLangRoutes(createHistory, primaryLang)();
 sendPageAnalytics(history, window.ga);
 
 const devTools = window.devToolsExtension ? window.devToolsExtension() : f => f;
diff --git a/client/utils/use-lang-routes.js b/client/utils/use-lang-routes.js
index c6fd2a33843..d254e1ac09e 100644
--- a/client/utils/use-lang-routes.js
+++ b/client/utils/use-lang-routes.js
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ function getLangFromLocation(location) {
   return getLangFromPath(location.pathname);
 }
 
-export default function useLangRoutes(createHistory) {
+export default function useLangRoutes(createHistory, primaryLang) {
   return (options = {}) => {
-    let lang = 'en';
+    let lang = primaryLang || 'en';
     const history = createHistory(options);
     const unsubscribeFromHistory = history.listen(nextLocation => {
       lang = getLangFromLocation(nextLocation);