diff --git a/Themes/_fallback/Languages/en.ini b/Themes/_fallback/Languages/en.ini
index 20f77dd70a..575f1ca088 100644
--- a/Themes/_fallback/Languages/en.ini
+++ b/Themes/_fallback/Languages/en.ini
@@ -1533,6 +1533,8 @@ Done=Done
 HeaderText= 
 Space=Space
 "%s" is an invalid floating point value.="%s" is an invalid floating point value.
+AnswerCaret=_
+AnswerBlank= 
 
 [ScreenTitleMenu]
 %d songs in %d groups=%d songs in %d groups
diff --git a/src/ScreenTextEntry.cpp b/src/ScreenTextEntry.cpp
index c011c50176..a1e318b207 100644
--- a/src/ScreenTextEntry.cpp
+++ b/src/ScreenTextEntry.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ void ScreenTextEntry::BeginScreen()
 	UpdateAnswerText();
 }
 
+static LocalizedString ANSWER_CARET	( "ScreenTextEntry", "AnswerCaret" );
+static LocalizedString ANSWER_BLANK	( "ScreenTextEntry", "AnswerBlank" );
 void ScreenTextEntry::UpdateAnswerText()
 {
 	RString s;
@@ -157,9 +159,11 @@ void ScreenTextEntry::UpdateAnswerText()
 		s = g_pFormatAnswerForDisplay( s );
 
 	if( m_bShowAnswerCaret 	&&  !bAnswerFull )
-		s += '_';
+		s += ANSWER_CARET; // was '_'
 	else
-		s += "  ";	// xxx: assumes that underscore is the width of two spaces
+	{
+		s += ANSWER_BLANK; // was "  "
+	}
 
 	FontCharAliases::ReplaceMarkers( s );
 	m_textAnswer.SetText( s );