diff --git a/doc/Makefile b/doc/Makefile
index b873c7e5a..ff3cb22b3 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile
+++ b/doc/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ help:
 	@echo "  epub      to make an epub file"
 	@echo "  latex     to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter"
 	@echo "  latexpdf  to make LaTeX files and run pdflatex"
+	@echo "  gettext   to make PO message catalogs"
 	@echo "  changes   to make an overview over all changed/added/deprecated items"
 	@echo "  linkcheck to check all external links for integrity"
 
@@ -112,6 +113,11 @@ latexpdf:
 	make -C _build/latex all-pdf
 	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in _build/latex."
 
+gettext:
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b gettext $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/locale
+	@echo
+	@echo "Build finished. The message catalogs are in _build/locale."
+
 changes:
 	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/changes
 	@echo