diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
index 0f1ce70fe7..e0bbc94f0a 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ class Keg < Pathname
     $d=0
 
     share_mkpaths=%w[aclocal doc info locale man]+(1..8).collect{|x|"man/man#{x}"}
+    # cat pages are rare, but exist so the directories should be created
+    share_mkpaths << (1..8).collect{ |x| "man/cat#{x}" }
 
     # yeah indeed, you have to force anything you need in the main tree into
     # these dirs REMEMBER that *NOT* everything needs to be in the main tree
@@ -63,7 +65,16 @@ class Keg < Pathname
     link_dir('bin') {:skip}
     link_dir('sbin') {:link}
     link_dir('include') {:link}
-    link_dir('share') {|path| :mkpath if share_mkpaths.include? path.to_s}
+
+    link_dir('share') do |path|
+      # locale-specific directories have the form
+      # language[_territory][.codeset][@modifier]
+      if path.to_s =~ /man\/([a-z]{2}|C|POSIX)(_[A-Z]{2})?(\.[a-zA-Z\-0-9]+(@.+)?)?/
+        :mkpath
+      elsif share_mkpaths.include? path.to_s
+        :mkpath
+      end
+    end
 
     link_dir('lib') do |path|
       case path.to_s