diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/red.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/red.js
index 011b5b8d7..2c71af8ed 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/red.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/red.js
@@ -347,10 +347,8 @@ var RED = (function() {
             var parts = topic.split("/");
             var node = RED.nodes.node(parts[1]);
             if (node) {
-                if (msg.hasOwnProperty("text")) {
-                    if (msg.text[0] !== ".") {
-                        msg.text = node._(msg.text.toString(),{defaultValue:msg.text.toString()});
-                    }
+                if (msg.hasOwnProperty("text") && /^[a-zA-Z]/.test(msg.text)) {
+                    msg.text = node._(msg.text.toString(),{defaultValue:msg.text.toString()});
                 }
                 node.status = msg;
                 node.dirty = true;