diff --git a/securedrop/i18n_tool.py b/securedrop/i18n_tool.py
index bebdcdc78a..cf1900b9a3 100755
--- a/securedrop/i18n_tool.py
+++ b/securedrop/i18n_tool.py
@@ -255,6 +255,15 @@ def set_translate_desktop_parser(self, subps):
         self.set_translate_parser(subps, parser, translations_dir, sources)
         parser.set_defaults(func=self.translate_desktop)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def require_git_email_name(git_dir):
+        cmd = ('git -C {d} config --get user.name > /dev/null && '
+               'git -C {d} config --get user.email > /dev/null'.format(
+                   d=git_dir))
+        if subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True):  #  nosec
+            raise Exception(cmd + ' returned false, please set name and email')
+        return True
+
     def update_docs(self, args):
         l10n_content = '.. GENERATED BY i18n_tool.py DO NOT EDIT:\n\n'
         for (code, info) in sorted(I18NTool.SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES.items()):
@@ -262,6 +271,7 @@ def update_docs(self, args):
         includes = join(args.documentation_dir, 'includes')
         l10n_txt = join(includes, 'l10n.txt')
         open(l10n_txt, 'w').write(l10n_content)
+        self.require_git_email_name(includes)
         if self.file_is_modified(l10n_txt):
             sh("""
             set -ex
@@ -334,6 +344,7 @@ def add(p):
                 self.upstream_commit(args, code)
 
     def upstream_commit(self, args, code):
+        self.require_git_email_name(args.root)
         authors = set()
         for path in sh("git -C {r} diff --name-only --cached".format(
                 r=args.root)).split():
diff --git a/securedrop/tests/test_i18n_tool.py b/securedrop/tests/test_i18n_tool.py
index 9d2f48963d..2264c4d5bc 100644
--- a/securedrop/tests/test_i18n_tool.py
+++ b/securedrop/tests/test_i18n_tool.py
@@ -215,6 +215,21 @@ def test_translate_messages_compile_arg(self, tmpdir):
         assert 'code hello i18n' in mo
         assert 'template hello i18n' not in mo
 
+    def test_require_git_email_name(self, tmpdir):
+        i18n_tool.sh("""
+        cd {dir}
+        git init
+        """.format(dir=str(tmpdir)))
+        with pytest.raises(Exception) as excinfo:
+            i18n_tool.I18NTool.require_git_email_name(str(tmpdir))
+        assert 'please set name' in excinfo.value.message
+        i18n_tool.sh("""
+        cd {dir}
+        git config user.email "you@example.com"
+        git config user.name "Your Name"
+        """.format(dir=str(tmpdir)))
+        assert i18n_tool.I18NTool.require_git_email_name(str(tmpdir))
+
     def test_update_docs(self, tmpdir, caplog):
         os.makedirs(join(str(tmpdir), 'includes'))
         i18n_tool.sh("""