diff --git a/i18n/dummy.py b/i18n/dummy.py
index 987c971447..b192069329 100644
--- a/i18n/dummy.py
+++ b/i18n/dummy.py
@@ -99,20 +99,6 @@ class Dummy(Converter):
         """replaces the final char of string with #"""
         return string[:-1] + '#'
 
-    def init_msgs(self, msgs):
-        """
-        Make sure the first msg in msgs has a plural property.
-        msgs is list of instances of polib.POEntry
-        """
-        if not msgs:
-            return
-        headers = msgs[0].get_property('msgstr')
-        has_plural = any(header.startswith('Plural-Forms:') for header in headers)
-        if not has_plural:
-            # Apply declaration for English pluralization rules
-            plural = "Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\\n"
-            headers.append(plural)
-
     def convert_msg(self, msg):
         """
         Takes one POEntry object and converts it (adds a dummy translation to it)
@@ -128,8 +114,10 @@ class Dummy(Converter):
             # translate singular and plural
             foreign_single = self.convert(source)
             foreign_plural = self.convert(plural)
-            plural = {'0': self.final_newline(source, foreign_single),
-                      '1': self.final_newline(plural, foreign_plural)}
+            plural = {
+                '0': self.final_newline(source, foreign_single),
+                '1': self.final_newline(plural, foreign_plural),
+            }
             msg.msgstr_plural = plural
         else:
             foreign = self.convert(source)
diff --git a/i18n/generate.py b/i18n/generate.py
index 3d565ba091..8afa93c655 100755
--- a/i18n/generate.py
+++ b/i18n/generate.py
@@ -60,9 +60,12 @@ def merge(locale, target='django.po', fail_if_missing=True):
 def clean_metadata(file):
     """
     Clean up redundancies in the metadata caused by merging.
-    This reads in a PO file and simply saves it back out again.
     """
-    pofile(file).save()
+    # Reading in the .po file and saving it again fixes redundancies.
+    pomsgs = pofile(file)
+    # The msgcat tool marks the metadata as fuzzy, but it's ok as it is.
+    pomsgs.metadata_is_fuzzy = False
+    pomsgs.save()
 
 
 def validate_files(dir, files_to_merge):
diff --git a/i18n/make_dummy.py b/i18n/make_dummy.py
index 1d9be34b10..11021d4036 100755
--- a/i18n/make_dummy.py
+++ b/i18n/make_dummy.py
@@ -38,9 +38,15 @@ def main(file, locale):
         raise IOError('File does not exist: %s' % file)
     pofile = polib.pofile(file)
     converter = Dummy()
-    converter.init_msgs(pofile.translated_entries())
     for msg in pofile:
         converter.convert_msg(msg)
+
+    # If any message has a plural, then the file needs plural information.
+    # Apply declaration for English pluralization rules so that ngettext will
+    # do something reasonable.
+    if any(m.msgid_plural for m in pofile):
+        pofile.metadata['Plural-Forms'] = 'nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);'
+
     new_file = new_filename(file, locale)
     create_dir_if_necessary(new_file)
     pofile.save(new_file)
diff --git a/i18n/tests/test_validate.py b/i18n/tests/test_validate.py
index 2876f1c2f8..68f69d2b46 100644
--- a/i18n/tests/test_validate.py
+++ b/i18n/tests/test_validate.py
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ def test_po_files(root=LOCALE_DIR):
     log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.INFO)
 
-    for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in os.walk(root):
+    for dirpath, __, filenames in os.walk(root):
         for name in filenames:
-            (base, ext) = os.path.splitext(name)
+            __, ext = os.path.splitext(name)
             if ext.lower() == '.po':
                 yield validate_po_file, os.path.join(dirpath, name), log
 
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ def validate_po_file(filename, log):
     """
     # Use relative paths to make output less noisy.
     rfile = os.path.relpath(filename, LOCALE_DIR)
-    (out, err) = call(['msgfmt','-c', rfile], working_directory=LOCALE_DIR)
+    out, err = call(['msgfmt', '-c', rfile], working_directory=LOCALE_DIR)
     if err != '':
-        log.warn('\n'+err)
+        log.info('\n' + out)
+        log.warn('\n' + err)
+    assert not err