diff --git a/scripts/generate-mo b/scripts/generate-mo
index c0e29453f..d8c8ab224 100755
--- a/scripts/generate-mo
+++ b/scripts/generate-mo
@@ -1,15 +1,25 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 if [ x$1 = x--quiet ] ; then
     stats=""
+    shift
 else
     stats="--statistics"
 fi
 
-for x in po/*.po  ; do 
-    lang=`echo $x | sed 's@po/\(.*\)\.po@\1@'`
+compile() {
+    lang=`echo $1 | sed 's@po/\(.*\)\.po@\1@'`
     if [ ! -z "$stats" ] ; then
         echo -n "$lang: "
     fi
     mkdir -p locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES
-    msgfmt $stats --check -o locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES/phpmyadmin.mo $x
+    msgfmt $stats --check -o locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES/phpmyadmin.mo $1
+}
+
+if [ ! -z "$1" ] ; then
+    compile po/$1.po
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+for x in po/*.po  ; do 
+    compile $x
 done