diff --git a/wp-includes/compat.php b/wp-includes/compat.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3531017e55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wp-includes/compat.php
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * WordPress implementation for PHP functions either missing from older PHP versions or not included by default.
+ *
+ * @package PHP
+ * @access private
+ */
+
+// If gettext isn't available
+if ( !function_exists('_') ) {
+	function _($string) {
+		return $string;
+	}
+}