diff --git a/cloudinit/distros/rhel.py b/cloudinit/distros/rhel.py
index 84744eceffe..320f4ba1dc3 100644
--- a/cloudinit/distros/rhel.py
+++ b/cloudinit/distros/rhel.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 # Author: Joshua Harlow <harlowja@yahoo-inc.com>
 #
 # This file is part of cloud-init. See LICENSE file for license information.
+import os
 
 from cloudinit import distros, helpers
 from cloudinit import log as logging
@@ -57,11 +58,25 @@ def __init__(self, name, cfg, paths):
         # should only happen say once per instance...)
         self._runner = helpers.Runners(paths)
         self.osfamily = "redhat"
+        self.default_locale = "en_US.UTF-8"
+        self.system_locale = None
         cfg["ssh_svcname"] = "sshd"
 
     def install_packages(self, pkglist):
         self.package_command("install", pkgs=pkglist)
 
+    def get_locale(self):
+        """Return the default locale if set, else use system locale"""
+
+        # read system locale value
+        if not self.system_locale:
+            self.system_locale = self._read_system_locale()
+
+        # Return system_locale setting if valid, else use default locale
+        return (
+            self.system_locale if self.system_locale else self.default_locale
+        )
+
     def apply_locale(self, locale, out_fn=None):
         if self.uses_systemd():
             if not out_fn:
@@ -75,6 +90,23 @@ def apply_locale(self, locale, out_fn=None):
         }
         rhel_util.update_sysconfig_file(out_fn, locale_cfg)
 
+    def _read_system_locale(self, keyname="LANG"):
+        """Read system default locale setting, if present"""
+        if self.uses_systemd():
+            locale_fn = self.systemd_locale_conf_fn
+        else:
+            locale_fn = self.locale_conf_fn
+
+        if not locale_fn:
+            raise ValueError("Invalid path: %s" % locale_fn)
+
+        if os.path.exists(locale_fn):
+            (_exists, contents) = rhel_util.read_sysconfig_file(locale_fn)
+            if keyname in contents:
+                return contents[keyname]
+            else:
+                return None
+
     def _write_hostname(self, hostname, filename):
         # systemd will never update previous-hostname for us, so
         # we need to do it ourselves
diff --git a/tests/unittests/distros/test_generic.py b/tests/unittests/distros/test_generic.py
index 93c5395c52e..fedc7300d38 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/distros/test_generic.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/distros/test_generic.py
@@ -187,12 +187,14 @@ def test_get_locale_ubuntu(self, m_locale):
         locale = d.get_locale()
         self.assertEqual("C.UTF-8", locale)
 
-    def test_get_locale_rhel(self):
-        """Test rhel distro returns NotImplementedError exception"""
+    @mock.patch("cloudinit.distros.rhel.Distro._read_system_locale")
+    def test_get_locale_rhel(self, m_locale):
+        """Test rhel distro returns locale set to C.UTF-8"""
+        m_locale.return_value = "C.UTF-8"
         cls = distros.fetch("rhel")
         d = cls("rhel", {}, None)
-        with self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError):
-            d.get_locale()
+        locale = d.get_locale()
+        self.assertEqual("C.UTF-8", locale)
 
     def test_expire_passwd_uses_chpasswd(self):
         """Test ubuntu.expire_passwd uses the passwd command."""
diff --git a/tools/.github-cla-signers b/tools/.github-cla-signers
index a9ede0cb47d..55272218ce3 100644
--- a/tools/.github-cla-signers
+++ b/tools/.github-cla-signers
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ renanrodrigo
 rhansen
 riedel
 sarahwzadara
+shi2wei3
 slingamn
 slyon
 smoser