diff --git a/precise/base-0k/hooks/install.d/00-base.sh b/precise/base-0k/hooks/install.d/00-base.sh
index 8446daa..d0eff0e 100755
--- a/precise/base-0k/hooks/install.d/00-base.sh
+++ b/precise/base-0k/hooks/install.d/00-base.sh
@@ -47,6 +47,13 @@ case $(lsb_release -is) in
         apt-get install -y language-pack-en </dev/null
         ;;
     Debian)
+	    if ! type -p locale-gen >/dev/null && [ -x /usr/sbin/locale-gen ]; then
+            echo "Your shell is incorrectly set as your PATH doesn't contain '/usr/sbin'." >&2
+            echo "This probably happens because you've incorrectly entered root environment" >&2
+            echo "Please use 'sudo -i' or 'su -' to enter a root shell from another user." >&2
+            echo "  ref: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=918754"
+            exit 1
+        fi
         sed -ri 's/^\s*#\s*(en_US\.UTF-?8.*)\s*$/\1/g' /etc/locale.gen
         locale-gen
         ;;