diff --git a/web/clitools/getinstinfo.php b/web/clitools/getinstinfo.php
index 5636782..fc964ab 100755
--- a/web/clitools/getinstinfo.php
+++ b/web/clitools/getinstinfo.php
@@ -640,9 +640,9 @@ if ($instanswered && isset($idata['languages']) && is_array($idata['languages'])
 	eecho(1,'«'.$opts['hostname'].'»: declared languages: '.implode(', ',$idata['languages']).N);
 	if (!$opts['dryrun']) {
 		myq($link,'DELETE FROM InstLangs WHERE InstID='.$instid,__LINE__);
+		$langids=getlangsidsarr($idata['languages'],$link,$opts['hostname'],$opts['dryrun']);
 		$pos=0;
-		foreach ($idata['languages'] as $lang) {
-			$langid=getlangid($link,$lang,$opts['hostname'],$opts['dryrun'],__LINE__);
+		foreach ($langids as $langid) {
 			$pos++;
 			myq($link,'INSERT INTO InstLangs SET InstID='.$instid.', LangID='.$langid.', Pos='.$pos,__LINE__);
 		}
@@ -656,8 +656,6 @@ if ($instanswered && isset($idata['languages']) && is_array($idata['languages'])
 			$idata['ourlanguages']=get_instance_langs($opts['hostname']);
 			while (count($idata['ourlanguages'])>5)
 				array_pop($idata['ourlanguages']);
-			foreach ($idata['ourlanguages'] as $key=>$lang)
-				$idata['ourlanguages'][$key]=str_replace('-','_',$lang);// this is just cosmetic: lang code canonicalization happens in getlangid()
 			eecho(1,'«'.$opts['hostname'].'»: detected languages: '.implode(', ',$idata['ourlanguages']).N);
 		} else {
 			$idata['ourlanguages']=$idata['languages'];
@@ -665,9 +663,9 @@ if ($instanswered && isset($idata['languages']) && is_array($idata['languages'])
 		}
 		if (!$opts['dryrun']) {
 			myq($link,'DELETE FROM InstOurLangs WHERE InstID='.$instid,__LINE__);
+			$langids=getlangsidsarr($idata['languages'],$link,$opts['hostname'],$opts['dryrun']);
 			$pos=0;
 			foreach ($idata['ourlanguages'] as $lang) {
-				$langid=getlangid($link,$lang,$opts['hostname'],$opts['dryrun'],__LINE__);
 				$pos++;
 				myq($link,'INSERT INTO InstOurLangs SET InstID='.$instid.', OurLangID='.$langid.', Pos='.$pos,__LINE__);
 			}
@@ -1213,7 +1211,11 @@ function get_instance_langs($host) {
 }
 
 function getlangid(&$link,$lang,$hostname,$dryrun,$line) {
-	$lang=locale_canonicalize($lang);
+	$code=locale_canonicalize($lang);
+	if (preg_match('/^\s*$/',$lang)===1 || preg_match('/__/',$code)===1) {
+		notify('«'.$hostname.'»: «'.$lang.'» is not a valid language code, falling back to default «en».',2,true);
+		$code='en';
+	}
 	$res=myq($link,'SELECT * FROM Languages WHERE Code=\''.myesc($link,$lang).'\'',$line);
 	$nrows=mysqli_num_rows($res);
 	if ($nrows==0) {
@@ -1243,4 +1245,14 @@ function getlangid(&$link,$lang,$hostname,$dryrun,$line) {
 	return($langid);
 }
 
+function getlangsidsarr(&$langs,&$link,$hostname,$dryrun) {
+	$langids=[];
+	foreach ($langs as $lang) {
+		$langid=getlangid($link,$lang,$hostname,$dryrun,__LINE__);
+		$langids[]=$langid;
+	}
+	$langids=array_unique($langids);
+	return($langids);
+}
+
 ?>