--- ispell.el.orig0	2005-12-20 15:06:29.000000000 +0100
+++ ispell.el	2006-01-12 19:40:32.000000000 +0100
@@ -913,7 +913,9 @@
     (ispell-aspell-add-aliases)
     ;; Add a default entry
     (let* ((english-dict (assoc "en" ispell-dictionary-alist))
-	   (default-dict (cons nil (cdr english-dict))))
+	   (default-dict
+	     (cons nil (or (cdr english-dict)
+			   (cdr (car ispell-dictionary-alist-1))))))
       (push default-dict ispell-dictionary-alist))
     (setq ispell-have-aspell-dictionaries t)))