diff --git a/src/utilities/spellChecker.ts b/src/utilities/spellChecker.ts
index 847a86854c..d2c83b69bb 100644
--- a/src/utilities/spellChecker.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/spellChecker.ts
@@ -34,12 +34,17 @@ export default class SpellChecker {
     this.dictLoader = new DictionaryLoader(bcp47);
     this.dictLoaded = {};
     await this.dictLoader.loadDictionary().then((dic) => {
-      if (dic !== undefined) {
+      if (dic) {
         this.spell = nspell("SET UTF-8", dic);
         this.addToDictLoaded(dic);
         if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
           console.log(`Loaded spell-checker: ${bcp47}`);
         }
+      } else {
+        this.spell = undefined;
+        if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
+          console.log(`No dictionary available: ${bcp47}`);
+        }
       }
     });
   }
diff --git a/src/utilities/tests/spellChecker.test.ts b/src/utilities/tests/spellChecker.test.ts
index f208c1a6fc..6a6611595d 100644
--- a/src/utilities/tests/spellChecker.test.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/tests/spellChecker.test.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import SpellChecker from "utilities/spellChecker";
 
 jest.mock("resources/dictionaries", () => ({
-  getDict: () => Promise.resolve(`2\n${mockValidWordA}\n${mockValidWordBExt}`),
+  getDict: () => mockGetDict(),
   getKeys: () => [],
 }));
 
+const mockGetDict = jest.fn();
+
 const invalidWord = "asdfghjkl";
 const mockWord = "mockWord";
 const mockValidWordA = `${mockWord}A`;
@@ -12,6 +14,12 @@ const mockWordB = `${mockWord}B`;
 const mockWordC = `${mockWord}C`;
 const mockValidWordBExt = `${mockWordB}Extended`;
 
+beforeEach(() => {
+  mockGetDict.mockImplementation(() =>
+    Promise.resolve(`2\n${mockValidWordA}\n${mockValidWordBExt}`)
+  );
+});
+
 describe("SpellChecker", () => {
   describe("correct", () => {
     it("detects a correctly spelled word", (done) => {
@@ -115,6 +123,45 @@ describe("SpellChecker", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("updateLang", () => {
+    it("keeps dictionary when new lang code has same first part", (done) => {
+      const spellChecker = new SpellChecker("en-GB");
+      // Give the dictionary half-a-sec to load.
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        const suggestions = spellChecker.getSpellingSuggestions(mockWordB);
+        expect(suggestions).toContain(mockValidWordA);
+
+        mockGetDict.mockClear();
+        spellChecker.updateLang("en-US").then(() => {
+          expect(
+            spellChecker.getSpellingSuggestions(mockWordB)
+          ).not.toHaveLength(0);
+          expect(mockGetDict).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+          done();
+        });
+      }, 500);
+    });
+
+    it("clears dictionary when new lang code has no dictionary", (done) => {
+      const spellChecker = new SpellChecker("en-GB");
+      // Give the dictionary half-a-sec to load.
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        const suggestions = spellChecker.getSpellingSuggestions(mockWordB);
+        expect(suggestions).toContain(mockValidWordA);
+
+        mockGetDict.mockClear();
+        mockGetDict.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+        spellChecker.updateLang("tpi").then(() => {
+          expect(mockGetDict).toHaveBeenCalled();
+          expect(spellChecker.getSpellingSuggestions(mockWordB)).toHaveLength(
+            0
+          );
+          done();
+        });
+      }, 500);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("replaceAllButLastWordWithEllipses", () => {
     it("handles empty string", () => {
       expect(SpellChecker.replaceAllButLastWordWithEllipses("")).toEqual("");