Specified i18n.locales must be an array of locale strings…

Error message

Specified i18n.locales must be an array of locale strings e.g. ["en-US", "nl-NL"] received ${typeof i18n.locales}.\nSee more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/invalid-i18n-config

What it means

Error "Specified i18n.locales must be an array of locale strings e.g. ["en-US", "nl-NL"] received ${typeof i18n.locales}.\nSee more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/invalid-i18n-config" thrown in vercel/next.js.

Solutions

Make every i18n.locales entry a locale string like "en-US".

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

When it happens

Trigger: i18n.locales is not an array of locale strings.

Common situations: Non-string values inside i18n.locales in next.config.

AI-assisted analysis of vercel/next.js@34433fd12e (2026-08-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b7fae97c0b474619. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/next/src/server/config.ts:1363

          }
        }

        return hasInvalidLocale
      })

      if (invalidDomainItems.length > 0) {
        throw new Error(
          `Invalid i18n.domains values:\n${invalidDomainItems
            .map((item: any) => JSON.stringify(item))
            .join(
              '\n'
            )}\n\ndomains value must follow format { domain: 'example.fr', defaultLocale: 'fr', locales: ['fr'] }.\nSee more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/invalid-i18n-config`
        )
      }
    }

    if (!Array.isArray(i18n.locales)) {
      throw new Error(
        `Specified i18n.locales must be an array of locale strings e.g. ["en-US", "nl-NL"] received ${typeof i18n.locales}.\nSee more info here: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/invalid-i18n-config`
      )
    }

    const invalidLocales = i18n.locales.filter(
      (locale: any) => typeof locale !== 'string'
    )

    if (invalidLocales.length > 0) {
      throw new Error(
        `Specified i18n.locales contains invalid values (${invalidLocales
          .map(String)
          .join(
            ', '
          )}), locales must be valid locale tags provided as strings e.g. "en-US".\n` +
          `See here for list of valid language sub-tags: http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry`
      )
    }

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