diff --git a/translations/ready b/translations/ready
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6f2fd872
--- /dev/null
+++ b/translations/ready
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+fr
+it
+ja
+sv
diff --git a/utils/translations/build-translations.sh b/utils/translations/build-translations.sh
index 0956e633f..1217dca0a 100755
--- a/utils/translations/build-translations.sh
+++ b/utils/translations/build-translations.sh
@@ -12,5 +12,15 @@ then
 fi
 
 echo "using $lrelease"
-"$lrelease" translations/*.ts
+if test -f translations/ready
+then
+  languages=""
+  for language in $(cat translations/ready)
+  do
+    languages="$languages translations/$language.ts"
+  done
+else
+  languages="translations/*.ts"
+fi
+"$lrelease" $languages