diff --git a/builtin/write-tree.c b/builtin/write-tree.c
index b223af416f..084c0df783 100644
--- a/builtin/write-tree.c
+++ b/builtin/write-tree.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #include "parse-options.h"
 
 static const char * const write_tree_usage[] = {
-	"git write-tree [--missing-ok] [--prefix=<prefix>/]",
+	N_("git write-tree [--missing-ok] [--prefix=<prefix>/]"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -21,13 +21,13 @@ int cmd_write_tree(int argc, const char **argv, const char *unused_prefix)
 	unsigned char sha1[20];
 	const char *me = "git-write-tree";
 	struct option write_tree_options[] = {
-		OPT_BIT(0, "missing-ok", &flags, "allow missing objects",
+		OPT_BIT(0, "missing-ok", &flags, N_("allow missing objects"),
 			WRITE_TREE_MISSING_OK),
-		{ OPTION_STRING, 0, "prefix", &prefix, "<prefix>/",
-		  "write tree object for a subdirectory <prefix>" ,
+		{ OPTION_STRING, 0, "prefix", &prefix, N_("<prefix>/"),
+		  N_("write tree object for a subdirectory <prefix>") ,
 		  PARSE_OPT_LITERAL_ARGHELP },
 		{ OPTION_BIT, 0, "ignore-cache-tree", &flags, NULL,
-		  "only useful for debugging",
+		  N_("only useful for debugging"),
 		  PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN | PARSE_OPT_NOARG, NULL,
 		  WRITE_TREE_IGNORE_CACHE_TREE },
 		OPT_END()