diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_i18n.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_i18n.py
index 2a2880a8e3..612b39c76f 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_i18n.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_i18n.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ class TestModuleI18nService(ModuleStoreTestCase):
             self.descriptor,
             self.field_data,
         )
-        self.addCleanup(translation.activate, settings.LANGUAGE_CODE)
+        self.addCleanup(translation.deactivate)
 
     def get_module_i18n_service(self, descriptor):
         """
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_i18n.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_i18n.py
index 345dc21dda..4f8599eafd 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_i18n.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_i18n.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse, NoReverseMatch
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.client import Client
+from django.utils import translation
 
 from dark_lang.models import DarkLangConfig
 from lang_pref import LANGUAGE_KEY
@@ -21,6 +22,10 @@ class BaseI18nTestCase(TestCase):
     Base utilities for i18n test classes to derive from
     """
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(BaseI18nTestCase, self).setUp()
+        self.addCleanup(translation.deactivate)
+
     def assert_tag_has_attr(self, content, tag, attname, value):
         """Assert that a tag in `content` has a certain value in a certain attribute."""
         regex = r"""<{tag} [^>]*\b{attname}=['"]([\w\d\- ]+)['"][^>]*>""".format(tag=tag, attname=attname)