git svn throws locale related error when built from source

Hi

I built git 1.5.6.3 manually (no package with 1.5.4+ on gutsy), and I am
getting the error below when running 'git svn rebase'. 
svn works fine on its own though.  
The default locale is set to en_US.UTF-8

svn: error: cannot set LC_ALL locale
svn: error: environment variable LANG is en_US.UTF-8
svn: error: please check that your locale name is correct

I found a workaround that works, but it would be nice to have it work
properly.
$> LANG= git svn rebase"

Thanks in advance.
-Anton

P.s. I am sending this again, because I did not find the message on
http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git