diff --git a/game/manage.py b/game/manage.py
index e5f3cbe8a1..4a9ee2c769 100755
--- a/game/manage.py
+++ b/game/manage.py
@@ -102,24 +102,28 @@ from src.settings_default import *
     Welcome to Evennia (version %(version)s)! 
     We created a fresh settings.py file for you.""" % {'version': VERSION} 
 
-# i18n
-from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 # Test the import of the settings file
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 try:
+    # i18n
+    from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
     from game import settings
 except Exception:
     import traceback
     string = "\n" + traceback.format_exc()
     string += _("""\n
     Error: Couldn't import the file 'settings.py' in the directory 
-    containing %(file)r. There can be two reasons for this: 
+    containing %(file)r. There are usually two reasons for this: 
     1) You moved your settings.py elsewhere. In that case move it back or 
        create a link to it from this folder. 
     2) The settings module is where it's supposed to be, but contains errors.
        Review the traceback above to resolve the problem, then try again. 
+    3) If you get errors on finding DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE you might have 
+       set up django wrong in some way. If you run a virtual machine, it might be worth
+       to restart it to see if this resolves the issue. Evennia should not require you 
+       to define any environment variables manually. 
     """) % {'file': __file__}
     print string 
     sys.exit(1)