diff --git a/src/i18n.ts b/src/i18n.ts
index 5275089..39cb16c 100644
--- a/src/i18n.ts
+++ b/src/i18n.ts
@@ -139,22 +139,29 @@ export class I18n extends Formatter {
       this.#notifyForMissingTranslation(identifier, true)
     }
 
+    if (message) {
+      return this.formatRawMessage(message.message, data)
+    }
+
     /**
-     * Return a fallback message when identifier has no
-     * message.
+     * Return the inline fallback message (when defined)
      */
-    if (!message) {
-      return (
-        fallbackMessage ||
-        this.#i18nManager.getFallbackMessage(identifier, this.locale) ||
-        `translation missing: ${this.locale}, ${identifier}`
-      )
+    if (fallbackMessage !== undefined) {
+      return fallbackMessage
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return the global fallback message (when defined)
+     */
+    const globalFallbackMessage = this.#i18nManager.getFallbackMessage(identifier, this.locale)
+    if (globalFallbackMessage !== undefined) {
+      return globalFallbackMessage
     }
 
     /**
-     * Format message
+     * Otherwise return error message string
      */
-    return this.formatRawMessage(message.message, data)
+    return `translation missing: ${this.locale}, ${identifier}`
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/stubs/detect_user_locale.stub b/stubs/detect_user_locale.stub
index 826fd16..657d99a 100644
--- a/stubs/detect_user_locale.stub
+++ b/stubs/detect_user_locale.stub
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export default class {{ middlewareName }} {
    */
   protected getRequestLocale(ctx: HttpContext) {
     const userLanguages = ctx.request.languages()
-    return i18n.getSupportedLocaleFor(userLanguages)
+    return i18nManager.getSupportedLocaleFor(userLanguages)
   }
 
   async handle(ctx: HttpContext, next: NextFn) {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export default class {{ middlewareName }} {
     /**
      * Assigning i18n property to the HTTP context
      */
-    ctx.i18n = i18nManager.locale(language || i18n.defaultLocale)
+    ctx.i18n = i18nManager.locale(language || i18nManager.defaultLocale)
 
     /**
      * Binding I18n class to the request specific instance of it.
diff --git a/tests/i18n.spec.ts b/tests/i18n.spec.ts
index 4a1db06..a5de461 100644
--- a/tests/i18n.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/i18n.spec.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,35 @@ test.group('I18n', () => {
     assert.equal(i18n.formatMessage('messages.greeting', { price: 100 }), 'The price is 100,00 $US')
   })
 
+  test('define fallback message for missing translation', async ({ fs, assert }) => {
+    const i18nManager = new I18nManager(emitter, {
+      defaultLocale: 'en',
+      formatter: () => new IcuFormatter(),
+      loaders: [() => new FsLoader({ location: join(fs.basePath, 'resources/lang') })],
+    })
+
+    await i18nManager.loadTranslations()
+    const i18n = new I18n('fr', emitter, i18nManager)
+
+    const message = i18n.formatMessage('messages.greeting', {}, '')
+    assert.equal(message, '')
+  })
+
+  test('define fallback using global hook', async ({ fs, assert }) => {
+    const i18nManager = new I18nManager(emitter, {
+      defaultLocale: 'en',
+      fallback: () => '',
+      formatter: () => new IcuFormatter(),
+      loaders: [() => new FsLoader({ location: join(fs.basePath, 'resources/lang') })],
+    })
+
+    await i18nManager.loadTranslations()
+    const i18n = new I18n('fr', emitter, i18nManager)
+
+    const message = i18n.formatMessage('messages.greeting')
+    assert.equal(message, '')
+  })
+
   test('report missing translations via events', async ({ fs, assert }) => {
     await fs.createJson('resources/lang/en/messages.json', {
       greeting: 'The price is {price, number, ::currency/INR}',