diff --git a/launcher/Application.cpp b/launcher/Application.cpp
index ff4013b1c..710b75162 100644
--- a/launcher/Application.cpp
+++ b/launcher/Application.cpp
@@ -937,15 +937,6 @@ Application::Application(int& argc, char** argv) : QApplication(argc, argv)
         qInfo() << "<> Network done.";
     }
 
-    // load translations
-    {
-        m_translations.reset(new TranslationsModel("translations"));
-        auto bcp47Name = m_settings->get("Language").toString();
-        m_translations->selectLanguage(bcp47Name);
-        qInfo() << "Your language is" << bcp47Name;
-        qInfo() << "<> Translations loaded.";
-    }
-
     // Instance icons
     {
         auto setting = APPLICATION->settings()->getSetting("IconsDir");
@@ -1024,8 +1015,16 @@ Application::Application(int& argc, char** argv) : QApplication(argc, argv)
         qInfo() << "<> Cache initialized.";
     }
 
-    // now we have network, download translation updates
-    m_translations->downloadIndex();
+    // load translations
+    {
+        m_translations.reset(new TranslationsModel("translations"));
+        auto bcp47Name = m_settings->get("Language").toString();
+        m_translations->selectLanguage(bcp47Name);
+        qInfo() << "Your language is" << bcp47Name;
+        qInfo() << "<> Translations loaded.";
+
+        m_translations->downloadIndex();
+    }
 
     // FIXME: what to do with these?
     m_profilers.insert("jprofiler", std::shared_ptr<BaseProfilerFactory>(new JProfilerFactory()));
diff --git a/launcher/translations/TranslationsModel.cpp b/launcher/translations/TranslationsModel.cpp
index ebbd7cdb6..54d792f0c 100644
--- a/launcher/translations/TranslationsModel.cpp
+++ b/launcher/translations/TranslationsModel.cpp
@@ -267,7 +267,12 @@ void TranslationsModel::reloadLocalFiles()
 {
     QMap<QString, Language> languages = { { g_defaultLangCode, Language(g_defaultLangCode) } };
 
-    readIndex(d->m_dir.absoluteFilePath("index_v2.json"), languages);
+    const auto indexPath = d->m_dir.absoluteFilePath("index_v2.json");
+    if (!QFileInfo::exists(indexPath)) {
+        downloadIndex();
+        return;
+    }
+    readIndex(indexPath, languages);
     auto entries = d->m_dir.entryInfoList({ "mmc_*.qm", "*.po" }, QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
     for (auto& entry : entries) {
         auto completeSuffix = entry.completeSuffix();