--- a/mobile/android/base/locales/Makefile.in
+++ b/mobile/android/base/locales/Makefile.in
@@ -58,31 +58,40 @@ strings-xml-preqs =\
   $(SEARCHSTRINGSPATH) \
   $(SYNCSTRINGSPATH) \
   $(if $(IS_LANGUAGE_REPACK),FORCE) \
   $(NULL)
 
 $(if $(MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_ACCOUNT_TYPE),,$(error Missing MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_ACCOUNT_TYPE))
 $(if $(MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_FXACCOUNT_TYPE),,$(error Missing MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_FXACCOUNT_TYPE))
 
-$(dir-strings-xml)/strings.xml: $(strings-xml-preqs)
+# This file depends on the locale.  It is safe to do this because when
+# we're repacking a language, we FORCE, so locale changes are always
+# recognized.  It's simpler to do this than make the intermediate file
+# name or location depend on the locale.  If it were easier to pipe
+# between py_action invocations, we could avoid this intermediate file
+# altogether.
+strings_unexpanded.xml: $(strings-xml-preqs)
 	$(call py_action,preprocessor, \
       $(DEFINES) \
       $(ACDEFINES) \
 	  -DANDROID_PACKAGE_NAME=$(ANDROID_PACKAGE_NAME) \
 	  -DBRANDPATH='$(BRANDPATH)' \
 	  -DMOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_ACCOUNT_TYPE=$(MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_ACCOUNT_TYPE) \
 	  -DMOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_FXACCOUNT_TYPE=$(MOZ_ANDROID_SHARED_FXACCOUNT_TYPE) \
 	  -DMOZ_APP_DISPLAYNAME='@MOZ_APP_DISPLAYNAME@' \
 	  -DSTRINGSPATH='$(STRINGSPATH)' \
 	  -DSYNCSTRINGSPATH='$(SYNCSTRINGSPATH)' \
 	  -DSEARCHSTRINGSPATH='$(SEARCHSTRINGSPATH)' \
       $< \
 	  -o $@)
 
+$(dir-strings-xml)/strings.xml: strings_unexpanded.xml
+	$(call py_action,expand_xml_entities,$< -o $@)
+
 # Arg 1: Valid Make identifier, like suggestedsites.
 # Arg 2: File name, like suggestedsites.json.
 define generated_file_template
 
 # Determine the ../res/raw[-*] path.  This can be ../res/raw when no
 # locale is explicitly specified.
 $(1)-bypath = $(filter %/$(2),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
 ifeq (,$$(strip $$($(1)-bypath)))

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/mozbuild/mozbuild/action/expand_xml_entities.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+# License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+# file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function
+
+import argparse
+import sys
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+
+def main(argv):
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Expand XML entities.')
+
+    parser.add_argument('input', help='Path to input XML file.')
+    parser.add_argument('--output', '-o', required=True, help='Output file.')
+
+    # The entities are present in the XML file, and the parser automatically
+    # expands entities, so there's no explicit step needed: parse and write.
+    args = parser.parse_args(argv)
+    tree = ET.parse(args.input)
+    tree.write(args.output)
+
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main(sys.argv[1:]))