diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/37039 b/changelog/unreleased/37039
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6d559e7df104
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/37039
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Change: Respect default_language when sending email notifications
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/core/issues/37039
diff --git a/lib/private/Share/MailNotifications.php b/lib/private/Share/MailNotifications.php
index eee9f4d48c5f..cec0e6863f5d 100644
--- a/lib/private/Share/MailNotifications.php
+++ b/lib/private/Share/MailNotifications.php
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ public function sendInternalShareMail($sender, $node, $shareType, $recipientList
 			$unescapedFilename = $filename;
 			$link = $filter->getLink();
 
-			$recipientLanguageCode = $this->config->getUserValue($recipient->getUID(), 'core', 'lang', 'en');
+			$defaultLang = $this->config->getSystemValue('default_language', 'en');
+			$recipientLanguageCode = $this->config->getUserValue($recipient->getUID(), 'core', 'lang', $defaultLang);
 			$recipientL10N = \OC::$server->getL10N('lib');
 			if ($this->l->getLanguageCode() !== $recipientLanguageCode) {
 				$recipientL10N = \OC::$server->getL10N('lib', $recipientLanguageCode);