diff --git a/packages/i18n/package.json b/packages/i18n/package.json
index 6856a2d..dac463a 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/package.json
+++ b/packages/i18n/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
       "default": "./src/react.tsx"
     }
   },
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "vitest run",
+    "test:watch": "vitest"
+  },
   "peerDependencies": {
     "react": "^19.0.0"
   },
@@ -20,5 +24,8 @@
     "i18next": "^24.2.2",
     "i18next-browser-languagedetector": "^8.0.2",
     "react-i18next": "^15.3.4"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "vitest": "^4.1.6"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/chrome-storage-sync.ts b/packages/i18n/src/chrome-storage-sync.ts
index 239b98f..081b9f8 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/chrome-storage-sync.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/chrome-storage-sync.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ declare const chrome:
           ) => void;
         };
       };
+      i18n?: {
+        getUILanguage(): string;
+      };
     }
   | undefined;
 
@@ -31,14 +34,116 @@ function getChromeLocal(): ChromeStorageLocal | undefined {
   return typeof chrome !== "undefined" ? chrome.storage?.local : undefined;
 }
 
+/** Regions whose written Chinese defaults to Traditional. */
+const TRADITIONAL_CHINESE_REGIONS = new Set(["tw", "hk", "mo"]);
+
+/**
+ * Group resource keys by primary language subtag, so a bare `ko` can find
+ * `ko-KR` without anyone maintaining a side map by hand.
+ */
+function buildPrimarySubtagIndex(resourceKeys: string[]): Map<string, string[]> {
+  const index = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  for (const key of resourceKeys) {
+    const primary = key.split(/[-_]/)[0].toLowerCase();
+    const bucket = index.get(primary);
+    if (bucket) {
+      bucket.push(key);
+    } else {
+      index.set(primary, [key]);
+    }
+  }
+  return index;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Chinese is the one language where a single primary subtag maps to several
+ * resources, because Simplified and Traditional differ by script rather than
+ * by region. Every other language resolves straight from the index.
+ */
+function resolveChineseVariant(parts: string[], candidates: string[]): string {
+  const byRegion = (region: string): string | undefined =>
+    candidates.find((key) => key.toLowerCase().endsWith(`-${region}`));
+
+  // 1. Script subtag is the most accurate signal (zh-Hans / zh-Hant).
+  if (parts.includes("hans")) {
+    return byRegion("cn") ?? candidates[0];
+  }
+  if (parts.includes("hant")) {
+    return byRegion("tw") ?? candidates[candidates.length - 1];
+  }
+  // 2. Fall back to the region subtag, which is what Chrome actually reports.
+  //    Skip parts[0] — the primary subtag `zh` is also two characters long.
+  const region = parts.slice(1).find((part) => part.length === 2);
+  if (region && TRADITIONAL_CHINESE_REGIONS.has(region)) {
+    return byRegion("tw") ?? candidates[0];
+  }
+  // 3. Bare `zh` and any other region default to Simplified.
+  return byRegion("cn") ?? candidates[0];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build a normalizer driven entirely by the resource keys i18next ships, so
+ * registering a new translation needs no change here.
+ *
+ * For a detected BCP 47 tag, in order:
+ *
+ * 1. it already names a resource (`ko-KR`)               → unchanged
+ * 2. one resource shares its language (`ko` → `ko-KR`)   → that resource
+ * 3. several do (`zh` → `zh-CN` / `zh-TW`)               → script, then region
+ * 4. nothing is shipped for the language                 → unchanged
+ *
+ * Case 4 leaves the tag untouched so i18next applies `fallbackLng`, rather
+ * than silently routing an untranslated language to the wrong bundle.
+ */
+export function createLanguageNormalizer(resourceKeys: string[]): (code: string) => string {
+  const keySet = new Set(resourceKeys);
+  const index = buildPrimarySubtagIndex(resourceKeys);
+
+  return (code: string): string => {
+    if (keySet.has(code)) {
+      return code;
+    }
+    const parts = code.split(/[-_]/).map((part) => part.toLowerCase());
+    const candidates = index.get(parts[0]);
+    if (!candidates?.length) {
+      return code;
+    }
+    if (candidates.length === 1) {
+      return candidates[0];
+    }
+    if (parts[0] === "zh") {
+      return resolveChineseVariant(parts, candidates);
+    }
+    return candidates[0];
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * i18next detector that prefers `chrome.i18n.getUILanguage()`, Chrome's
+ * authoritative source for the extension UI language. The popup runs on a
+ * `chrome-extension://` origin where `navigator.language` can disagree with it.
+ */
+export const chromeUiLanguageDetector = {
+  name: "chromeUILanguage",
+  lookup(): string | undefined {
+    if (typeof chrome !== "undefined" && chrome.i18n?.getUILanguage) {
+      return chrome.i18n.getUILanguage();
+    }
+    return undefined;
+  },
+};
+
 /** Avoid page-origin localStorage; use extension storage + navigator only. */
-export function getLanguageDetectionOptions(): {
+export function getLanguageDetectionOptions(resourceKeys: string[]): {
   order: string[];
   caches: string[];
+  convertDetectedLanguage: (lng: string) => string;
 } {
   return {
-    order: ["navigator"],
+    order: ["chromeUILanguage", "navigator"],
     caches: [],
+    // Normalise the detected tag before i18next resolves it against `resources`.
+    convertDetectedLanguage: createLanguageNormalizer(resourceKeys),
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/i18n.ts b/packages/i18n/src/i18n.ts
index a3eafa3..bc15a6c 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/i18n.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/i18n.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@ import i18n from "i18next";
 import LanguageDetector from "i18next-browser-languagedetector";
 import { initReactI18next } from "react-i18next";
 
-import { bindChromeStorageLanguageSync, getLanguageDetectionOptions } from "./chrome-storage-sync";
+import {
+  bindChromeStorageLanguageSync,
+  chromeUiLanguageDetector,
+  getLanguageDetectionOptions,
+} from "./chrome-storage-sync";
 import enUSCommon from "./locales/en-US/common.json";
 import enUSExtension from "./locales/en-US/extension.json";
 import zhCNCommon from "./locales/zh-CN/common.json";
@@ -19,12 +23,21 @@ const resources = {
   },
 } as const;
 
+const languageDetector = new LanguageDetector();
+languageDetector.addDetector(chromeUiLanguageDetector);
+
+// Drive locale normalisation off the keys we actually ship, so registering a
+// translation is the only step needed to support a new language.
+const resourceKeys = Object.keys(resources);
+
 i18n
-  .use(LanguageDetector)
+  .use(languageDetector)
   .use(initReactI18next)
   .init({
     resources,
-    fallbackLng: "zh-CN",
+    // English is the international default; Chinese users still get Chinese.
+    // `zh` → zh-CN also covers zh-TW/zh-HK until a Traditional resource exists.
+    fallbackLng: { en: ["en-US"], zh: ["zh-CN"], default: ["en-US"] },
     defaultNS: "common",
     ns: ["common", "extension"],
 
@@ -32,7 +45,7 @@ i18n
       escapeValue: false,
     },
 
-    detection: getLanguageDetectionOptions(),
+    detection: getLanguageDetectionOptions(resourceKeys),
 
     react: {
       useSuspense: false,
diff --git a/packages/i18n/tests/locale-resolution.test.ts b/packages/i18n/tests/locale-resolution.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7bf8aaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/i18n/tests/locale-resolution.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import {
+  chromeUiLanguageDetector,
+  createLanguageNormalizer,
+  getLanguageDetectionOptions,
+} from "../src/chrome-storage-sync";
+
+/** What `packages/i18n` ships today — kept in sync with `resources` in i18n.ts. */
+const SHIPPED_RESOURCE_KEYS = ["zh-CN", "en-US"];
+
+/**
+ * Locks the locale-resolution table from issue #168: the UI must follow the
+ * browser language instead of falling through to Chinese for every locale
+ * other than `en-US`.
+ */
+describe("createLanguageNormalizer", () => {
+  const normalize = createLanguageNormalizer(SHIPPED_RESOURCE_KEYS);
+
+  const cases: Array<[detected: string, resource: string]> = [
+    // English — every variant maps to the single en-US resource.
+    ["en", "en-US"],
+    ["en-US", "en-US"],
+    ["en-GB", "en-US"],
+    ["en-CN", "en-US"],
+    ["en-AU", "en-US"],
+
+    // Chinese — only `zh-CN` ships today, so every variant resolves to it
+    // directly rather than leaking into the fallback chain. Traditional picks
+    // up `zh-TW` automatically once that bundle is registered (see below).
+    ["zh", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-CN", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-SG", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hans", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hans-CN", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hans-SG", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-TW", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-HK", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-MO", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hant", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hant-TW", "zh-CN"],
+    ["zh-Hant-HK", "zh-CN"],
+
+    // No translation shipped — returned unchanged so i18next applies the
+    // `default` fallback (en-US) rather than Chinese.
+    ["ja", "ja"],
+    ["ja-JP", "ja-JP"],
+    ["fr-FR", "fr-FR"],
+    ["de-DE", "de-DE"],
+  ];
+
+  it.each(cases)("maps %s to %s", (detected, resource) => {
+    expect(normalize(detected)).toBe(resource);
+  });
+
+  it("is case-insensitive", () => {
+    expect(normalize("EN-us")).toBe("en-US");
+    expect(normalize("zh-hant-tw")).toBe("zh-CN");
+  });
+});
+
+/**
+ * The point of the factory: supporting a new language means registering its
+ * bundle in `resources` — never touching the normalizer.
+ */
+describe("createLanguageNormalizer extensibility", () => {
+  it("auto-resolves a newly registered language", () => {
+    const normalize = createLanguageNormalizer(["en-US", "zh-CN", "ko-KR"]);
+    expect(normalize("ko")).toBe("ko-KR");
+    expect(normalize("ko-KR")).toBe("ko-KR");
+  });
+
+  it("disambiguates zh once a Traditional bundle ships", () => {
+    const normalize = createLanguageNormalizer(["en-US", "zh-CN", "zh-TW"]);
+    expect(normalize("zh-Hant")).toBe("zh-TW");
+    expect(normalize("zh-Hant-TW")).toBe("zh-TW");
+    expect(normalize("zh-TW")).toBe("zh-TW");
+    expect(normalize("zh-HK")).toBe("zh-TW");
+    expect(normalize("zh-MO")).toBe("zh-TW");
+    expect(normalize("zh-Hans")).toBe("zh-CN");
+    expect(normalize("zh-CN")).toBe("zh-CN");
+    expect(normalize("zh")).toBe("zh-CN");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves unregistered languages to fallbackLng", () => {
+    const normalize = createLanguageNormalizer(["en-US", "zh-CN"]);
+    expect(normalize("pt-BR")).toBe("pt-BR");
+    expect(normalize("ru")).toBe("ru");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("chromeUiLanguageDetector", () => {
+  it("prefers chrome.i18n.getUILanguage() when available", () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("chrome", { i18n: { getUILanguage: () => "en-GB" } });
+    expect(chromeUiLanguageDetector.lookup()).toBe("en-GB");
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined outside a Chrome extension context", () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("chrome", undefined);
+    expect(chromeUiLanguageDetector.lookup()).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined when the i18n API is unavailable", () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("chrome", {});
+    expect(chromeUiLanguageDetector.lookup()).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
+describe("getLanguageDetectionOptions", () => {
+  it("orders the Chrome UI language ahead of navigator", () => {
+    expect(getLanguageDetectionOptions(SHIPPED_RESOURCE_KEYS).order).toEqual([
+      "chromeUILanguage",
+      "navigator",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("normalises whatever the detectors report", () => {
+    const { convertDetectedLanguage } = getLanguageDetectionOptions(SHIPPED_RESOURCE_KEYS);
+    expect(convertDetectedLanguage("en-GB")).toBe("en-US");
+    expect(convertDetectedLanguage("zh-TW")).toBe("zh-CN");
+    expect(convertDetectedLanguage("ja-JP")).toBe("ja-JP");
+  });
+
+  it("does not write to page-origin storage", () => {
+    expect(getLanguageDetectionOptions(SHIPPED_RESOURCE_KEYS).caches).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/i18n/vitest.config.ts b/packages/i18n/vitest.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..faa6d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/i18n/vitest.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import { defineConfig } from "vitest/config";
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  test: {
+    environment: "node",
+    include: ["tests/**/*.test.ts"],
+  },
+});
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index d60c24f..4fc27be 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -189,6 +189,10 @@ importers:
       react-i18next:
         specifier: ^15.3.4
         version: 15.7.4(i18next@24.2.3(typescript@5.9.3))(react@19.2.6)(typescript@5.9.3)
+    devDependencies:
+      vitest:
+        specifier: ^4.1.6
+        version: 4.1.6(@types/node@25.8.0)(happy-dom@15.11.7)(vite@8.0.13(@types/node@25.8.0)(esbuild@0.27.7)(jiti@2.7.0))
 
   packages/ui:
     dependencies: