diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 180776a63..6dfff28b6 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@
 class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   protect_from_forgery with: :exception
 
-  before_action :set_current_locale
-  before_action :set_current_theme
-
-  before_action :set_site_locale
   before_action :check_for_redirection
   before_action :strip_file_extension
   before_action :authorize, if: :staging?
@@ -46,25 +42,6 @@ def authorize
     redirect_to [:signin], alert: 'You need to sign in to view that page.' unless signed_in?
   end
 
-  def set_current_locale
-    locale = request.subdomain
-    I18n.locale = locale if I18n.available_locales.include?(locale.to_sym)
-
-    # Force the subdomain to match the locale.
-    # Don’t do this in development, because typically local development
-    # environments don’t support subdomains (en.localhost doesn’t resolve).
-    if (I18n.locale != I18n.default_locale) && # Don’t redirect to en.crimethinc.com
-       request.subdomain.empty? &&             # Don’t redirect if there’s a subdomain
-       Rails.env.production?                   # Don’t redirect in development
-
-      redirect_to({ subdomain: I18n.locale }.merge(params.permit!))
-    end
-  end
-
-  def set_current_theme
-    Current.theme = ENV.fetch('THEME') { '2017' }
-  end
-
   def check_for_redirection
     redirect = Redirect.where(source_path: request.path.downcase).last
     redirect = Redirect.where(source_path: "#{request.path.downcase}/").last if redirect.blank?
@@ -146,10 +123,5 @@ def page_share_image_url
     # TODO: implement this algorithm
     'https://cloudfront.crimethinc.com/assets/share/crimethinc-site-share.png'
   end
-
-  def set_site_locale
-    @site_locale = LocaleService.find(locale: nil, lang_code: I18n.locale)
-  end
-
   # ...Page Share
 end
diff --git a/app/controllers/steal_something_from_work_day_controller.rb b/app/controllers/steal_something_from_work_day_controller.rb
index 7958a1ede..a763adc9f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/steal_something_from_work_day_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/steal_something_from_work_day_controller.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class StealSomethingFromWorkDayController < ApplicationController
   def show
     # Remove current locale from language switcher in the view
     @locales = STEAL_SOMETHING_FROM_WORK_DAY_LOCALES.dup
-    @locales.delete I18n.locale
+    @locales.delete Current.locale
 
     @sections = [
       'Introduction',
diff --git a/app/helpers/locales_helper.rb b/app/helpers/locales_helper.rb
index 515e0ec71..a130d02d3 100644
--- a/app/helpers/locales_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/locales_helper.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ def locale abbreviation
   def locale_nav_item_classes_for locale
     classes = []
     classes << locale.abbreviation
-    classes << 'current' if I18n.locale.to_s == locale.abbreviation
+    classes << 'current' if Current.locale == locale
     classes
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/helpers/markdown_helper.rb b/app/helpers/markdown_helper.rb
index 70430e822..1f68f4d26 100644
--- a/app/helpers/markdown_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/markdown_helper.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 module MarkdownHelper
   def render_markdown_for page:
-    content = File.read [Rails.root, "config/locales/pages/#{I18n.locale}", "#{page}.markdown"].join('/')
+    content = File.read [
+      Rails.root,
+      'config',
+      'locales',
+      'pages',
+      Current.locale.abbreviation,
+      "#{page}.markdown"
+    ].join('/')
 
     render_markdown content
   end
diff --git a/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb b/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
index ac2cac6e2..b2e9514cc 100644
--- a/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ module TagsHelper
   attr_accessor :html_id
 
   def html_dir
-    article_locale&.language_direction.presence || t('language_direction')
+    article_locale&.language_direction.presence || Current.locale.language_direction
   end
 
   def html_lang
-    article_locale&.abbreviation.presence || I18n.locale
+    article_locale&.abbreviation.presence || Current.locale.abbreviation
   end
 
   def html_prefix
diff --git a/app/middlewares/rack/current_locale.rb b/app/middlewares/rack/current_locale.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5bb6abdb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/middlewares/rack/current_locale.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+module Rack
+  class CurrentLocale
+    def initialize app
+      @app = app
+    end
+
+    def call env
+      @req = Rack::Request.new(env)
+
+      set_current_locale
+      set_current_locale_from_subdomain
+      redirect_to_locale_subdomain
+
+      @app.call(env)
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def set_current_locale
+      Current.locale = ::Locale.find_by abbreviation: I18n.locale
+    end
+
+    def set_current_locale_from_subdomain
+      return if subdomain.blank?
+      return unless I18n.available_locales.include? subdomain.to_sym
+
+      Current.locale = ::Locale.find_by abbreviation: subdomain
+    end
+
+    def redirect_to_locale_subdomain
+      # Force the subdomain to match the locale.
+      # Don’t do this in development, because typically local development
+      # environments don’t support subdomains (en.localhost doesn’t resolve).
+
+      # Don’t redirect to en.crimethinc.com
+      return if Current.locale.english?
+
+      # Don’t redirect if there’s a subdomain
+      return if subdomain.present?
+
+      # Don’t redirect in development
+      return if Rails.env.production?
+
+      redirect localized_url
+    end
+
+    def subdomain
+      fully_qualified_domain = @req.host
+      locale_subdomain = fully_qualified_domain.split('.').first
+
+      locale_subdomain unless locale_subdomain == fully_qualified_domain
+    end
+
+    def decorated_subdomain
+      "#{subdomain}." unless subdomain.blank?
+    end
+
+    def decorated_port
+      ":#{@req.port}" if Rails.env.development?
+    end
+
+    def decorated_query_params
+      "?#{@req.query_string}" if @req.query_string.present?
+    end
+
+    def localized_url
+      [
+        @req.scheme,
+        '://',
+        decorated_subdomain,
+        @req.host,
+        decorated_port,
+        @req.path,
+        decorated_query_params
+      ].join
+    end
+
+    def redirect location
+      [
+        301,
+        { 'Location' => location, 'Content-Type' => 'text/html' },
+        ['Moved Permanently']
+      ]
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/middlewares/rack/current_theme.rb b/app/middlewares/rack/current_theme.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e181def97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/middlewares/rack/current_theme.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+module Rack
+  class CurrentTheme
+    def initialize app
+      @app = app
+    end
+
+    def call env
+      Current.theme = ENV.fetch('THEME') { '2017' }
+
+      @app.call(env)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/models/article.rb b/app/models/article.rb
index 1a6f438f1..aa778ac8a 100644
--- a/app/models/article.rb
+++ b/app/models/article.rb
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ def localizations
 
   def localization_in locale
     [
-      Article.published.live.find_by(locale: locale, canonical_id: id),
-      Article.published.live.find_by(locale: locale, id: canonical_id)
+      Article.published.live.find_by(locale: locale.abbreviation, canonical_id: id),
+      Article.published.live.find_by(locale: locale.abbreviation, id: canonical_id)
     ].compact.first
   end
 
   def preferred_localization
-    localization_in(I18n.locale).presence || self
+    localization_in(Current.locale).presence || self
   end
 
   def canonical_article
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/translatable.rb b/app/models/concerns/translatable.rb
index b775161a9..b851b5b9f 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/translatable.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/translatable.rb
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ def id_and_name
   end
 
   def preferred_localization
-    localization_in(I18n.locale).presence || self
+    localization_in(Current.locale).presence || self
   end
 
   def localization_in locale
-    self.class.published.live.where(locale: locale).where('id = ? OR canonical_id = ?', canonical_id, id).limit(1).first
+    self.class.published.live.where(locale: locale.abbreviation).where('id = ? OR canonical_id = ?', canonical_id, id).limit(1).first
   end
 
   def localizations
diff --git a/app/models/current.rb b/app/models/current.rb
index 49d647a38..8908d161b 100644
--- a/app/models/current.rb
+++ b/app/models/current.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 class Current < ActiveSupport::CurrentAttributes
-  attribute :user, :theme
+  attribute :user, :locale, :theme
 end
diff --git a/app/models/locale.rb b/app/models/locale.rb
index 3fd964dbd..854fc64c5 100644
--- a/app/models/locale.rb
+++ b/app/models/locale.rb
@@ -13,14 +13,6 @@ class Locale < ApplicationRecord
   default_scope { order(abbreviation: :asc) }
 
   class << self
-    def current
-      I18n.locale
-    end
-
-    def english?
-      I18n.locale == :en
-    end
-
     def live
       Locale.unscoped.order(articles_count: :desc, abbreviation: :asc).where.not(articles_count: 0)
     end
diff --git a/app/views/2017/languages/show.html.erb b/app/views/2017/languages/show.html.erb
index 8292acfe1..d6776534c 100644
--- a/app/views/2017/languages/show.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/2017/languages/show.html.erb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   </nav>
 
   <div class="subdomain-switcher">
-    <% unless @locale.abbreviation == I18n.locale.to_s %>
+    <% unless Current.locale == @locale %>
       <%= render_markdown t("views.languages.view_site_in_locale", locale: @locale.abbreviation) %>
     <% end %>
 
diff --git a/app/views/2017/shared/_footer.html.erb b/app/views/2017/shared/_footer.html.erb
index a8c491ad0..c7d21a400 100644
--- a/app/views/2017/shared/_footer.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/2017/shared/_footer.html.erb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <%= render_themed "shared/footer/contact" %>
   </div>
 
-  <% if media_mode? && I18n.locale == :en %>
+  <% if media_mode? && Current.locale.english? %>
     <p class="site-mode-link-container">
       <%= link_to(t("footer.site_mode"), url_for_current_path_with_subdomain(subdomain: :lite)) %>
     </p>
diff --git a/app/views/2017/shared/_header.html.erb b/app/views/2017/shared/_header.html.erb
index cb2400c41..d17b49592 100644
--- a/app/views/2017/shared/_header.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/2017/shared/_header.html.erb
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@
       <li class="nav-link"><%= link_to t("header.about"),   "/about" %></li>
     </ul>
 
-    <% unless Locale.english? %>
+    <% unless Current.locale.english? %>
       <ul>
-        <li class="nav-link"><%= link_to t('header.locale_articles'), language_path(@site_locale.canonical) %></li>
+        <li class="nav-link"><%= link_to t('header.locale_articles'), language_path(Current.locale.name) %></li>
       </ul>
     <% end %>
   </nav>
diff --git a/app/views/2020/shared/_footer.html.erb b/app/views/2020/shared/_footer.html.erb
index 5764ef433..086360c74 100644
--- a/app/views/2020/shared/_footer.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/2020/shared/_footer.html.erb
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
     </div><!-- .column column-25 -->
   </div><!-- .row -->
 
-  <% if media_mode? && I18n.locale == :en %>
+  <% if media_mode? && Current.locale.english? %>
     <p class='site-mode-link-container'>
       <%= link_to(t('footer.site_mode'), url_for_current_path_with_subdomain(subdomain: :lite)) %>
     </p>
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index a74a000c1..12457df41 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 require_relative '../app/middlewares/rack/pic_twitter_redirect'
 require_relative '../app/middlewares/rack/redirect'
 require_relative '../app/middlewares/rack/teapot'
+require_relative '../app/middlewares/rack/current_locale'
+require_relative '../app/middlewares/rack/current_theme'
 require 'rack/contrib'
 
 # Require the gems listed in Gemfile, including any gems
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ class Application < Rails::Application
     config.middleware.use Rack::Redirect
     config.middleware.use Rack::Attack
     config.middleware.use Rack::Locale
+    config.middleware.use Rack::CurrentLocale
+    config.middleware.use Rack::CurrentTheme
     config.middleware.insert_after ActionDispatch::Static, Rack::Deflater
 
     # Initialize configuration defaults for originally generated Rails version.
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 64a0afcc0..302549a0e 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
     driven_by :selenium_headless, using: :firefox
   end
 
+  config.before do
+    Current.locale = FactoryBot.build_stubbed :locale
+    Current.theme = '2017'
+  end
+
   config.expect_with :rspec do |expectations|
     expectations.include_chain_clauses_in_custom_matcher_descriptions = true
   end