diff --git a/compute_tools/src/config.rs b/compute_tools/src/config.rs
index 50e2a95e9dc0..d4e413034e6b 100644
--- a/compute_tools/src/config.rs
+++ b/compute_tools/src/config.rs
@@ -74,10 +74,17 @@ pub fn write_postgres_conf(
     }
 
     // Locales
-    writeln!(file, "lc_messages='C.UTF-8'")?;
-    writeln!(file, "lc_monetary='C.UTF-8'")?;
-    writeln!(file, "lc_time='C.UTF-8'")?;
-    writeln!(file, "lc_numeric='C.UTF-8'")?;
+    if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
+        writeln!(file, "lc_messages='C'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_monetary='C'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_time='C'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_numeric='C'")?;
+    } else {
+        writeln!(file, "lc_messages='C.UTF-8'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_monetary='C.UTF-8'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_time='C.UTF-8'")?;
+        writeln!(file, "lc_numeric='C.UTF-8'")?;
+    }
 
     match spec.mode {
         ComputeMode::Primary => {}
diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
index 42721819543b..f48c1febb53c 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
@@ -277,7 +277,11 @@ pub mod defaults {
     pub const DEFAULT_WAL_REDO_TIMEOUT: &str = "60 s";
 
     pub const DEFAULT_SUPERUSER: &str = "cloud_admin";
-    pub const DEFAULT_LOCALE: &str = "C.UTF-8";
+    pub const DEFAULT_LOCALE: &str = if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
+        "C"
+    } else {
+        "C.UTF-8"
+    };
 
     pub const DEFAULT_PAGE_CACHE_SIZE: usize = 8192;
     pub const DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_DESCRIPTORS: usize = 100;
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
index 903174680e00..774672aed617 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
@@ -4786,12 +4786,6 @@ async fn run_initdb(
         .args(["--username", &conf.superuser])
         .args(["--encoding", "utf8"])
         .args(["--locale", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-collate", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-ctype", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-messages", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-monetary", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-numeric", &conf.locale])
-        .args(["--lc-time", &conf.locale])
         .arg("--no-instructions")
         .arg("--no-sync")
         .env_clear()