diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index dbc3ebde..a12320f6 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ A detailed dependency list can be found in
 
 Minimum version requirements of major components:
 
-   - gettext >= 0.19
+   - gettext >= 0.19.6
    - python >= 3.4
    - gtk3 >= 3.22
    - libvirt-python >= 0.6.0
diff --git a/data/virt-manager.appdata.xml.in b/data/virt-manager.appdata.xml.in
index 65b6ae58..caac4518 100644
--- a/data/virt-manager.appdata.xml.in
+++ b/data/virt-manager.appdata.xml.in
@@ -3,29 +3,29 @@
   <id>virt-manager.desktop</id>
   <metadata_license>CC0-1.0</metadata_license>
   <project_license>GPL-2.0+</project_license>
-  <_name>Virtual Machine Manager</_name>
-  <_summary>Graphically manage KVM, Xen, or LXC via libvirt</_summary>
+  <name>Virtual Machine Manager</name>
+  <summary>Graphically manage KVM, Xen, or LXC via libvirt</summary>
   <description>
-    <_p>
+    <p>
    Virtual Machine Manager provides a graphical tool for administering virtual
    machines for KVM, Xen, and LXC. Start, stop, add or remove virtual devices,
    connect to a graphical or serial console, and see resource usage statistics
    for existing VMs on local or remote machines. Uses libvirt as the backend
    management API.
-  </_p>
+  </p>
   </description>
   <screenshots>
     <screenshot type="default">
       <image>https://virt-manager.org/appdata/en_US/manager.png</image>
-      <_caption>Main manager window</_caption>
+      <caption>Main manager window</caption>
     </screenshot>
     <screenshot>
       <image>https://virt-manager.org/appdata/en_US/details.png</image>
-      <_caption>Virtual machine configuration screen</_caption>
+      <caption>Virtual machine configuration screen</caption>
     </screenshot>
     <screenshot>
       <image>https://virt-manager.org/appdata/en_US/console.png</image>
-      <_caption>Graphical console connection for a virtual machine</_caption>
+      <caption>Graphical console connection for a virtual machine</caption>
     </screenshot>
   </screenshots>
   <url type="homepage">https://www.virt-manager.org/</url>
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 34532e12..4382d6af 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -59,13 +59,6 @@ _appdata_files = [
 ]
 
 
-def _generate_meta_potfiles_in():
-    potfiles = ""
-    for ignore, filelist in _appdata_files:
-        potfiles += "\n".join(filelist) + "\n"
-    return potfiles
-
-
 class my_build_i18n(distutils.command.build.build):
     """
     Add our desktop files to the list, saves us having to track setup.cfg
@@ -108,7 +101,8 @@ class my_build_i18n(distutils.command.build.build):
             self.distribution.data_files.append((targetpath, (mo_file,)))
 
         # Merge .in with translations using gettext
-        for (file_set, switch) in [(_desktop_files, "--desktop")]:
+        for (file_set, switch) in [(_appdata_files, "--xml"),
+                                   (_desktop_files, "--desktop")]:
             for (target, files) in file_set:
                 build_target = os.path.join("build", target)
                 if not os.path.exists(build_target):
@@ -134,33 +128,6 @@ class my_build_i18n(distutils.command.build.build):
                     files_merged.append(file_merged)
                 self.distribution.data_files.append((target, files_merged))
 
-        # merge .in with translation
-        for (file_set, switch) in [(_appdata_files, "-x")]:
-            for (target, files) in file_set:
-                build_target = os.path.join("build", target)
-                if not os.path.exists(build_target):
-                    os.makedirs(build_target)
-
-                files_merged = []
-                for f in files:
-                    if f.endswith(".in"):
-                        file_merged = os.path.basename(f[:-3])
-                    else:
-                        file_merged = os.path.basename(f)
-
-                    file_merged = os.path.join(build_target, file_merged)
-                    cmd = ["intltool-merge", switch, po_dir, f,
-                           file_merged]
-                    mtime_merged = (os.path.exists(file_merged) and
-                                    os.path.getmtime(file_merged)) or 0
-                    mtime_file = os.path.getmtime(f)
-                    if (mtime_merged < max_po_mtime or
-                        mtime_merged < mtime_file):
-                        # Only build if output is older than input (.po,.in)
-                        self.spawn(cmd)
-                    files_merged.append(file_merged)
-                self.distribution.data_files.append((target, files_merged))
-
 
 class my_build(distutils.command.build.build):
     """
@@ -698,18 +665,11 @@ class ExtractMessages(distutils.core.Command):
             "--package-name=virt-manager",
         ]
 
-        # First extract the messages using intltool, so it creates the template
-        potpath = "po/POTFILES.in"
-        try:
-            potfiles = _generate_meta_potfiles_in()
-            open(potpath, "w").write(potfiles)
-            cmd = ["intltool-update", "-p", "-g", "virt-manager"]
-            wd = os.getcwd()
-            os.chdir("po")
-            self.spawn(cmd)
-            os.chdir(wd)
-        finally:
-            os.unlink(potpath)
+        # First extract the messages from the AppStream sources,
+        # creating the template
+        appdata_files = [f for sublist in _appdata_files for f in sublist[1]]
+        cmd = xgettext_args + appdata_files
+        self.spawn(cmd)
 
         # Extract the messages from the desktop files
         desktop_files = [f for sublist in _desktop_files for f in sublist[1]]