diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 804c36a39..af7c43690 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Changes since last non-beta release.
 - Fixed `react_component_hash` functionality in cases of prerendering errors: [PR 960](https://github.com/shakacode/react_on_rails/pull/960) by [Judahmeek](https://github.com/Judahmeek)
 
 *Please add entries here for your pull requests.*
+- Fixes check for i18n_dir in LocalesToJs returning false when i18n_dir was set. [PR 899](https://github.com/shakacode/react_on_rails/pull/899) by [hakongit](https://github.com/hakongit)
 
 ### [10.0.0] - 2017-10-08
 #### Created
diff --git a/lib/react_on_rails/locales_to_js.rb b/lib/react_on_rails/locales_to_js.rb
index d2da631ca..56d1faed3 100644
--- a/lib/react_on_rails/locales_to_js.rb
+++ b/lib/react_on_rails/locales_to_js.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
 module ReactOnRails
   class LocalesToJs
     def initialize
-      return if i18n_dir.blank?
+      if !i18n_dir.nil? && !File.directory?(i18n_dir)
+        raise "config.i18n_dir is set and it is not a directory. Did you set config.i18n_dir in the react_on_rails initializer?"
+      end
+      return if i18n_yml_dir.nil?
       return unless obsolete?
       @translations, @defaults = generate_translations
       convert
diff --git a/spec/react_on_rails/locales_to_js_spec.rb b/spec/react_on_rails/locales_to_js_spec.rb
index 159caad57..af650bfa4 100644
--- a/spec/react_on_rails/locales_to_js_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/react_on_rails/locales_to_js_spec.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ module ReactOnRails
     let(:translations_path) { "#{i18n_dir}/translations.js" }
     let(:default_path) { "#{i18n_dir}/default.js" }
 
+    it "with i18n_dir set to ''" do
+      ReactOnRails.configure do |config|
+        config.i18n_dir = ''
+      end
+      expect { ReactOnRails::LocalesToJs.new }.to raise_error(/config.i18n_dir is set and it is not a directory. Did you set config.i18n_dir in the react_on_rails initializer?/)
+    end
+    
     shared_examples "locale to js" do
       context "with obsolete js files" do
         before do