diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8ee6be485..4e90eb06d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ The versions follow [semantic versioning](https://semver.org).
 
 - Fixed automatic generation of Sphinx documentation via readthedocs.io by
   adding a `.readthedocs.yaml` configuration file (#648)
+- Fixed a compatibility issue where reuse could not be installed (built) if
+  gettext is not installed. (#691)
 - Translations are available in Docker images. (#701)
 
 ### Security
diff --git a/_build.py b/_build.py
index b06cb4ad2..d124b5020 100644
--- a/_build.py
+++ b/_build.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def run(self):
                 )
                 destination = str(Path(lang_dir) / "reuse.mo")
                 compile_func = lambda msgfmt, in_file, out: subprocess.run(
-                    [msgfmt, in_file, "-o", out],
+                    [msgfmt, "-o", out, in_file],
                     check=True,
                 )