diff --git a/po/CMakeLists.txt b/po/CMakeLists.txt
index b8a75e0d7..d3268fb2e 100644
--- a/po/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/po/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ if(XGETTEXT_EXECUTABLE AND MSGMERGE_EXECUTABLE AND MSGFMT_EXECUTABLE)
     # Update .po files in source directory (if needed)
     add_custom_target(
       update-${pofile}
-      COMMAND ${MSGMERGE_EXECUTABLE} --quiet --update --backup=none ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${pofile} ${POT_FILE_PATH}
+      COMMAND ${MSGMERGE_EXECUTABLE} --quiet --update --previous --backup=none ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${pofile} ${POT_FILE_PATH}
       COMMENT "Updating ${polang}.po"
     )
     set(UPDATE_PO_TARGETS ${UPDATE_PO_TARGETS} update-${pofile})