diff --git a/lib/datalib.php b/lib/datalib.php
index b4598e201ad..b607625f3ce 100644
--- a/lib/datalib.php
+++ b/lib/datalib.php
@@ -1504,7 +1504,10 @@ function make_default_scale() {
 
     /// Read in the big description from the file.  Note this is not
     /// HTML (despite the file extension) but Moodle format text.
-    $parentlang = get_string('parentlang');
+    $parentlang = get_string('parentlanguage');
+    if ($parentlang[0] == '[') {
+        $parentlang = '';
+    }
     if (is_readable($CFG->dataroot .'/lang/'. $CFG->lang .'/help/forum/ratings.html')) {
         $file = file($CFG->dataroot .'/lang/'. $CFG->lang .'/help/forum/ratings.html');
     } else if (is_readable($CFG->dirroot .'/lang/'. $CFG->lang .'/help/forum/ratings.html')) {