diff --git a/src/com/android/settings/tts/TextToSpeechSettings.java b/src/com/android/settings/tts/TextToSpeechSettings.java
index e8255bf8af8..517eade984f 100644
--- a/src/com/android/settings/tts/TextToSpeechSettings.java
+++ b/src/com/android/settings/tts/TextToSpeechSettings.java
@@ -198,9 +198,13 @@ public class TextToSpeechSettings extends SettingsPreferenceFragment implements
                     currentEngine);
             if (localeString != null) {
                 final String[] locale = TtsEngines.parseLocalePref(localeString);
+                final Locale newLocale = new Locale(locale[0], locale[1], locale[2]);
+                final Locale engineLocale = mTts.getLanguage();
 
-                if (DBG) Log.d(TAG, "Loading language ahead of sample check : " + locale);
-                mTts.setLanguage(new Locale(locale[0], locale[1], locale[2]));
+                if (!newLocale.equals(engineLocale)) {
+                    if (DBG) Log.d(TAG, "Loading language ahead of sample check : " + locale);
+                    mTts.setLanguage(newLocale);
+                }
             }
         }
     }