diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 20d45368b..cf0f424fa 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ cache:
   - directories:
     - $HOME/.pyenv_cache
 
+addons:
+  apt:
+    packages:
+      - language-pack-de
+
 before_install:
   - source ./.travis/before_install.sh
 
diff --git a/Tests/misc/timeTools_test.py b/Tests/misc/timeTools_test.py
index e3ad3f6d2..601f357b8 100644
--- a/Tests/misc/timeTools_test.py
+++ b/Tests/misc/timeTools_test.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 from fontTools.misc.py23 import *
-from fontTools.misc.timeTools import asctime, timestampNow, epoch_diff
+from fontTools.misc.timeTools import asctime, timestampNow, timestampToString, timestampFromString, epoch_diff
 import os
 import time
+import locale
 import pytest
 
 
@@ -21,3 +22,17 @@ def test_source_date_epoch():
 
     del os.environ["SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH"]
     assert timestampNow() + epoch_diff != 150687315
+
+
+# test for issue #1838
+def test_date_parsing_with_locale():
+    l = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_TIME)
+    try:
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, 'de_DE.utf8')
+    except locale.Error:
+        pytest.skip("Locale de_DE not available")
+
+    try:
+        assert timestampFromString(timestampToString(timestampNow()))
+    finally:
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, l)