diff --git a/data/chs.mse-locale/locale b/data/chs.mse-locale/locale
index c6b3dc63..a750717a 100644
--- a/data/chs.mse-locale/locale
+++ b/data/chs.mse-locale/locale
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-mse version: 0.3.7
+mse version: 0.3.7
 installer group: translations/Simplified Chinese
 full name: 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
 version: 2008-07-03
diff --git a/data/de.mse-locale/locale b/data/de.mse-locale/locale
index a1b56f6f..a6ce3b6b 100644
--- a/data/de.mse-locale/locale
+++ b/data/de.mse-locale/locale
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-mse version: 0.3.7
+mse version: 0.3.7
 installer group: translations/Deutsch
 full name: Deutsch
 version: 2008-07-24
diff --git a/data/es.mse-locale/locale b/data/es.mse-locale/locale
index aa09c9f6..e8680e3b 100644
--- a/data/es.mse-locale/locale
+++ b/data/es.mse-locale/locale
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-mse version: 0.3.7
+mse version: 0.3.7
 installer group: translations/Español
 full name: Español
 version: 2008-05-31
diff --git a/data/jp.mse-locale/locale b/data/jp.mse-locale/locale
index dbf435f1..03e0c421 100644
--- a/data/jp.mse-locale/locale
+++ b/data/jp.mse-locale/locale
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-mse version: 0.3.7
+mse version: 0.3.7
 installer group: translations/Japanese
 full name: 日本語 (Japanese)
 version: 2008-06-25
diff --git a/src/data/locale.cpp b/src/data/locale.cpp
index 0d21bb1a..fe7aac96 100644
--- a/src/data/locale.cpp
+++ b/src/data/locale.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,19 @@ DECLARE_TYPEOF(map<String COMMA SubLocaleP>);
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Locale class
 
+// when reading, ignore "#_ADD" start of line pragmas
+
+typedef void (*ReaderPragmaHandler)(String&);
+DECLARE_DYNAMIC_ARG(ReaderPragmaHandler,reader_pragma_handler);
+
+void ignore_add_pragma(String& str) {
+	if      (starts_with(str,_("#_ADD "))) str = str.substr(6);
+	else if (starts_with(str,_("#_ADD")))  str = str.substr(5);
+	else if (starts_with(str,_("#_DEL")))  str.clear();
+}
+
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Locale class
+
 LocaleP the_locale;
 
 String Locale::typeName() const { return _("locale"); }
@@ -36,6 +49,7 @@ LocaleP Locale::byName(const String& name) {
 
 IMPLEMENT_REFLECTION_NO_SCRIPT(Locale) {
 	REFLECT_BASE(Packaged);
+	WITH_DYNAMIC_ARG(reader_pragma_handler, ignore_add_pragma);
 	REFLECT_N("menu",        translations[LOCALE_CAT_MENU]);
 	REFLECT_N("help",        translations[LOCALE_CAT_HELP]);
 	REFLECT_N("tool",        translations[LOCALE_CAT_TOOL]);
diff --git a/src/util/io/reader.cpp b/src/util/io/reader.cpp
index be3bfcae..bebca61f 100644
--- a/src/util/io/reader.cpp
+++ b/src/util/io/reader.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
 #include <util/io/package_manager.hpp>
 #undef small
 
+typedef void (*ReaderPragmaHandler)(String&);
+DECLARE_DYNAMIC_ARG  (ReaderPragmaHandler,reader_pragma_handler);
+IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC_ARG(ReaderPragmaHandler,reader_pragma_handler,nullptr);
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Reader
 
 Reader::Reader(const InputStreamP& input, Packaged* package, const String& filename, bool ignore_invalid)
@@ -225,18 +229,20 @@ void Reader::readLine(bool in_string) {
 	} catch (const ParseError& e) {
 		throw ParseError(e.what() + String(_(" on line ")) << line_number);
 	}
+	// pragma handler
+	if (reader_pragma_handler()) reader_pragma_handler()(line);
 	// read indentation
 	indent = 0;
 	while ((UInt)indent < line.size() && line.GetChar(indent) == _('\t')) {
 		indent += 1;
 	}
 	// read key / value
-	size_t pos = line.find_first_of(_(':'), indent);
-	if (trim(line).empty() || line.GetChar(indent) == _('#')) {
+	if (line.find_first_not_of(_(" \t")) == String::npos || line.GetChar(indent) == _('#')) {
 		// empty line or comment
 		key.clear();
 		return;
 	}
+	size_t pos = line.find_first_of(_(':'), indent);
 	key = line.substr(indent, pos - indent);
 	if (!ignore_invalid && !in_string && starts_with(key, _(" "))) {
 		warning(_("key: '") + key + _("' starts with a space; only use TABs for indentation!"), 0, false);
diff --git a/tools/locale/merge.pl b/tools/locale/merge.pl
index 32c74813..d33aac5f 100644
--- a/tools/locale/merge.pl
+++ b/tools/locale/merge.pl
@@ -89,7 +89,10 @@ sub merge_locales {
 			if ($what eq 'a') {
 				# add
 				for(my $k=0 ; $k < $len ; $pos_out++, $pos1++, $k++) {
-					print "#_ADD", ($file1[$pos1] =~ /^\t/ ? '' : ' '), $file1[$pos1];
+					my $line = $file1[$pos1];
+					$line =~ s/^\xEF\xBB\xBF//; # eat BOM
+					$line = "#_ADD" . ($line =~ /^\t/ ? '' : ' ') . $line;
+					print $line;
 				}
 			} else {
 				# delete