diff --git a/po/Makevars b/po/Makevars
index 6155923397..a6bdc7fad8 100644
--- a/po/Makevars
+++ b/po/Makevars
@@ -39,3 +39,8 @@ MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS = http://bugzilla.gnome.org/
 # This is the list of locale categories, beyond LC_MESSAGES, for which the
 # message catalogs shall be used.  It is usually empty.
 EXTRA_LOCALE_CATEGORIES =
+
+# Avoid line numbers in *.po, but keep them in *.pot.
+MSGMERGE = msgmerge --no-location
+MSGMERGE_UPDATE = msgmerge --no-location --update
+MSGFILTER = msgfilter --no-location