diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/teams/search_indexes.py b/lms/djangoapps/teams/search_indexes.py
index 7532b48ac6..cc743401b6 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/teams/search_indexes.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/teams/search_indexes.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models.signals import post_save
 from django.dispatch import receiver
+from django.utils import translation
 
 from search.search_engine_base import SearchEngine
 
@@ -45,12 +46,14 @@ class CourseTeamIndexer(object):
         """
         Generate the text field used for general search.
         """
-        return "{name}\n{description}\n{country}\n{language}".format(
-            name=self.course_team.name.encode('utf-8'),
-            description=self.course_team.description.encode('utf-8'),
-            country=self.course_team.country.name.format(),
-            language=self._language_name()
-        )
+        # Always use the English version of any localizable strings (see TNL-3239)
+        with translation.override('en'):
+            return "{name}\n{description}\n{country}\n{language}".format(
+                name=self.course_team.name.encode('utf-8'),
+                description=self.course_team.description.encode('utf-8'),
+                country=self.course_team.country.name.format(),
+                language=self._language_name()
+            )
 
     def _language_name(self):
         """
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/teams/tests/test_views.py b/lms/djangoapps/teams/tests/test_views.py
index 3d7490bba9..85a980e630 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/teams/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/teams/tests/test_views.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import ddt
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models.signals import post_save
+from django.utils import translation
 from nose.plugins.attrib import attr
 from rest_framework.test import APITestCase, APIClient
 
@@ -519,12 +520,13 @@ class TestListTeamsAPI(EventTestMixin, TeamAPITestCase):
     )
     @ddt.unpack
     def test_text_search(self, text_search, expected_team_names):
-        # clear out the teams search index before reindexing
-        CourseTeamIndexer.engine().destroy()
-
-        for team in self.test_team_name_id_map.values():
-            CourseTeamIndexer.index(team)
+        def reset_search_index():
+            """Clear out the search index and reindex the teams."""
+            CourseTeamIndexer.engine().destroy()
+            for team in self.test_team_name_id_map.values():
+                CourseTeamIndexer.index(team)
 
+        reset_search_index()
         self.verify_names(
             {'course_id': self.test_course_2.id, 'text_search': text_search},
             200,
@@ -540,6 +542,16 @@ class TestListTeamsAPI(EventTestMixin, TeamAPITestCase):
             number_of_results=len(expected_team_names)
         )
 
+        # Verify that the searches still work for a user from a different locale
+        with translation.override('ar'):
+            reset_search_index()
+            self.verify_names(
+                {'course_id': self.test_course_2.id, 'text_search': text_search},
+                200,
+                expected_team_names,
+                user='student_enrolled_public_profile'
+            )
+
 
 @ddt.ddt
 class TestCreateTeamAPI(EventTestMixin, TeamAPITestCase):