=== lib/DateTime.pm
==================================================================
--- lib/DateTime.pm	(revision 5795)
+++ lib/DateTime.pm	(local)
@@ -1668,6 +1668,8 @@
     if (@_)
     {
         ( $locale, $tz, $formatter ) = @_;
+        my $loc = (ref($locale) =~ /(\w+)$/)[0];
+        $locale = DateTime::Locale->load($loc);
     }
     else
     {
=== t/23storable.t
==================================================================
--- t/23storable.t	(revision 5795)
+++ t/23storable.t	(local)
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 if ( eval { require Storable; 1 } )
 {
-    plan tests => 16;
+    plan tests => 21;
 }
 else
 {
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
     foreach my $dt (@dt)
     {
-        my $copy = Storable::thaw( Storable::nfreeze($dt) );
+        my $copy   = Storable::thaw( Storable::nfreeze($dt) );
 
         is( $copy->time_zone->name, $dt->time_zone->name,
             'Storable freeze/thaw preserves tz' );
@@ -48,6 +48,18 @@
 }
 
 {
+    my $dt1 = DateTime->now(locale => 'en_us');
+    my $dt2 = Storable::dclone($dt1);
+    my $dt3 = Storable::thaw(Storable::nfreeze($dt2));
+
+    is $dt1->iso8601, $dt2->iso8601;
+    is $dt2->iso8601, $dt3->iso8601;
+    is $dt1->locale->name, 'English';
+    is $dt2->locale->name, 'English';
+    is $dt3->locale->name, 'English';
+}
+
+{
     my $has_ical = eval { require DateTime::Format::ICal; 1 };
 
  SKIP: