diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/reducers/compose.js b/app/javascript/mastodon/reducers/compose.js
index 1dafb07fd..9496b56f8 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/reducers/compose.js
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/reducers/compose.js
@@ -330,8 +330,10 @@ export default function compose(state = initialState, action) {
       map.set('preselectDate', new Date());
       map.set('idempotencyKey', uuid());
 
-      if (action.status.get('language')) {
+      if (action.status.get('language') && !action.status.has('translation')) {
         map.set('language', action.status.get('language'));
+      } else {
+        map.set('language', state.get('default_language'));
       }
 
       if (action.status.get('spoiler_text').length > 0) {