diff --git a/src/Model/User.php b/src/Model/User.php
index af7a81a15..774549d0a 100644
--- a/src/Model/User.php
+++ b/src/Model/User.php
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ class User
 		$system['dob'] = '0000-00-00';
 
 		// Ensure that the user contains data
-		$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', ['prvkey', 'guid'], ['uid' => 0]);
+		$user = DBA::selectFirst('user', ['prvkey', 'guid', 'language'], ['uid' => 0]);
 		if (empty($user['prvkey']) || empty($user['guid'])) {
 			$fields = [
 				'username' => $system['name'],
@@ -203,7 +203,8 @@ class User
 
 			$system['guid'] = $fields['guid'];
 		} else {
-			$system['guid'] = $user['guid'];
+			$system['guid']     = $user['guid'];
+			$system['language'] = $user['language'];
 		}
 
 		return $system;
@@ -532,6 +533,28 @@ class User
 		return $default_circle;
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Fetch the language code from the given user. If the code is invalid, return the system language
+ *
+ * @param integer $uid   User-Id
+ * @param boolean $short If true, return the short form g.g. "en", otherwise the long form e.g. "en_UK"
+ * @return string
+ */
+	public static function getLanguageCode(int $uid, bool $short): string
+	{
+		$owner = self::getOwnerDataById($uid);
+		$languages = DI::l10n()->getAvailableLanguages();
+		if (in_array($owner['language'], array_keys($languages))) {
+			$language = $owner['language'];
+		} else {
+			$language = DI::config()->get('system', 'language');
+		}
+		if ($short) {
+			return substr($language, 0, 2);
+		}
+		return $language;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Authenticate a user with a clear text password
 	 *
diff --git a/src/Module/Conversation/Channel.php b/src/Module/Conversation/Channel.php
index 708764b45..c0948bdad 100644
--- a/src/Module/Conversation/Channel.php
+++ b/src/Module/Conversation/Channel.php
@@ -180,27 +180,25 @@ class Channel extends BaseModule
 				'accesskey' => 'd'
 			];
 
-			$owner     = User::getOwnerDataById($this->session->getLocalUserId());
+			$language  = User::getLanguageCode($this->session->getLocalUserId(), false);
 			$languages = $this->l10n->getAvailableLanguages();
-			if (!empty($owner['language']) && !empty($languages[$owner['language']])) {
-				$tabs[] = [
-					'label'     => $languages[$owner['language']],
-					'url'       => 'channel/' . self::LANGUAGE,
-					'sel'       => self::$content == self::LANGUAGE ? 'active' : '',
-					'title'     => $this->l10n->t('Posts in %s', $languages[$owner['language']]),
-					'id'        => 'channel-language-tab',
-					'accesskey' => 'g'
-				];
+			$tabs[] = [
+				'label'     => $languages[$language],
+				'url'       => 'channel/' . self::LANGUAGE,
+				'sel'       => self::$content == self::LANGUAGE ? 'active' : '',
+				'title'     => $this->l10n->t('Posts in %s', $languages[$language]),
+				'id'        => 'channel-language-tab',
+				'accesskey' => 'g'
+			];
 
-				$tabs[] = [
-					'label'     => $this->l10n->t('Whats Hot %s', $languages[$owner['language']]),
-					'url'       => 'channel/' . self::HOTLANG,
-					'sel'       => self::$content == self::HOTLANG ? 'active' : '',
-					'title'     => $this->l10n->t('Posts in %s with a lot of interactions', $languages[$owner['language']]),
-					'id'        => 'channel-hotlang-tab',
-					'accesskey' => 'o'
-				];
-			}
+			$tabs[] = [
+				'label'     => $this->l10n->t('Whats Hot %s', $languages[$language]),
+				'url'       => 'channel/' . self::HOTLANG,
+				'sel'       => self::$content == self::HOTLANG ? 'active' : '',
+				'title'     => $this->l10n->t('Posts in %s with a lot of interactions', $languages[$language]),
+				'id'        => 'channel-hotlang-tab',
+				'accesskey' => 'o'
+			];
 
 			$tab_tpl = Renderer::getMarkupTemplate('common_tabs.tpl');
 			$o .= Renderer::replaceMacros($tab_tpl, ['$tabs' => $tabs]);
@@ -354,14 +352,14 @@ class Channel extends BaseModule
 		} elseif (self::$content == self::AUDIO) {
 			$condition = ["`media-type` & ?", 4];
 		} elseif (self::$content == self::LANGUAGE) {
-			$owner     = User::getOwnerDataById($this->session->getLocalUserId());
-			$condition = ["JSON_EXTRACT(`language`, ?) > ?", '$.' . $owner['language'], $this->config->get('channel', 'language_threshold')];
+			$condition = ["JSON_EXTRACT(JSON_KEYS(language), '$[0]') = ?", User::getLanguageCode($this->session->getLocalUserId(), true)];
 		} elseif (self::$content == self::HOTLANG) {
-			$owner = User::getOwnerDataById($this->session->getLocalUserId());
 			if (!is_null(self::$accountType)) {
-				$condition = ["(`comments` >= ? OR `activities` >= ?) AND `contact-type` = ? AND JSON_EXTRACT(`language`, ?) > ?", $this->getMedianComments(4), $this->getMedianActivities(4), self::$accountType, '$.' . $owner['language'], $this->config->get('channel', 'language_threshold')];
+				$condition = ["(`comments` >= ? OR `activities` >= ?) AND `contact-type` = ? AND JSON_EXTRACT(JSON_KEYS(language), '$[0]') = ?",
+					$this->getMedianComments(4), $this->getMedianActivities(4), self::$accountType, User::getLanguageCode($this->session->getLocalUserId(), true)];
 			} else {
-				$condition = ["(`comments` >= ? OR `activities` >= ?) AND `contact-type` != ? AND JSON_EXTRACT(`language`, ?) > ?", $this->getMedianComments(4), $this->getMedianActivities(4), Contact::TYPE_COMMUNITY, '$.' . $owner['language'], $this->config->get('channel', 'language_threshold')];
+				$condition = ["(`comments` >= ? OR `activities` >= ?) AND `contact-type` != ? AND JSON_EXTRACT(JSON_KEYS(language), '$[0]') = ?",
+					$this->getMedianComments(4), $this->getMedianActivities(4), Contact::TYPE_COMMUNITY, User::getLanguageCode($this->session->getLocalUserId(), true)];
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/static/defaults.config.php b/static/defaults.config.php
index d440f9c6a..10324ed50 100644
--- a/static/defaults.config.php
+++ b/static/defaults.config.php
@@ -804,9 +804,5 @@ return [
 		// interaction_score_days (Integer)
 		// Number of days that are used to calculate the interaction score.
 		'interaction_score_days' => 30,
-
-		// language_threshold (Float)
-		// Treshold for the language detection.
-		'language_threshold' => 0.6,
 	],
 ];