diff --git a/libjava/ChangeLog b/libjava/ChangeLog
index f054dbee2e1..703d19495e5 100644
--- a/libjava/ChangeLog
+++ b/libjava/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+1999-09-16  Bryce McKinlay  <bryce@albatross.co.nz>
+	* java/text/MessageFormat.java (MessageFormat(String)): Set the
+	default locale.
+	* java/text/NumberFormat.java: Check that object is a Number. If
+	not, throw IllegialArgumentException.
+
 1999-09-21  Tom Tromey  <tromey@cygnus.com>
 
 	* gnu/gcj/convert/Output_UTF8.java (write): Don't exit loop unless
diff --git a/libjava/java/text/MessageFormat.java b/libjava/java/text/MessageFormat.java
index 8b422357966..891a0c3e3d8 100644
--- a/libjava/java/text/MessageFormat.java
+++ b/libjava/java/text/MessageFormat.java
@@ -400,6 +400,7 @@ public class MessageFormat extends Format
 
   public MessageFormat (String pattern)
     {
+      locale = Locale.getDefault();
       applyPattern (pattern);
     }
 
diff --git a/libjava/java/text/NumberFormat.java b/libjava/java/text/NumberFormat.java
index 6ee79b3b546..a3f7f95294c 100644
--- a/libjava/java/text/NumberFormat.java
+++ b/libjava/java/text/NumberFormat.java
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@ public abstract class NumberFormat extends Format implements Cloneable
   public final StringBuffer format (Object obj, StringBuffer sbuf,
 				    FieldPosition pos)
     {
-      return format(((Number) obj).doubleValue(), sbuf, pos);
+      if (obj instanceof Number)
+        return format(((Number) obj).doubleValue(), sbuf, pos);
+      else
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException 
+          ("Cannot format given Object as a Number");
     }
 
   public abstract StringBuffer format (double number,