diff --git a/main/inc/lib/internationalization.lib.php b/main/inc/lib/internationalization.lib.php
index 2422c74d1a..8d329b5f5e 100755
--- a/main/inc/lib/internationalization.lib.php
+++ b/main/inc/lib/internationalization.lib.php
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ function get_lang($variable, $reserved = null, $language = null) {
         }
         if (empty($langvar) || !is_string($langvar)) {
             $_api_is_translated = false;
+            $langvar = $show_special_markup ? SPECIAL_OPENING_TAG.$variable.SPECIAL_CLOSING_TAG : $variable;
         }
         return $cache[$language][$variable] = $is_utf8_encoding ? $langvar : api_utf8_decode($langvar, $encoding);
     }
@@ -226,6 +227,7 @@ function get_lang($variable, $reserved = null, $language = null) {
     }
     if (empty($langvar) || !is_string($langvar)) {
         $_api_is_translated = false;
+        $langvar = $show_special_markup ? SPECIAL_OPENING_TAG.$variable.SPECIAL_CLOSING_TAG : $variable;
     }
     return $cache[$language][$variable] = $is_utf8_encoding ? $langvar : api_utf8_decode($langvar, $encoding);
 }