diff --git a/models/MessageExport.php b/models/MessageExport.php
index 186d3099..415e88d2 100644
--- a/models/MessageExport.php
+++ b/models/MessageExport.php
@@ -5,14 +5,15 @@
 class MessageExport extends ExportModel
 {
     const CODE_COLUMN_NAME = 'code';
+    const DEFAULT_COLUMN_NAME = 'default';
 
     /**
      * Exports the message data with each locale in a separate column.
      *
-     * code  | en    | de    | fr
-     * -------------------------------
-     * title | Title | Titel | Titre
-     * name  | Name  | Name  | Prénom
+     * code      | default   | en    | de    | fr
+     * ----------------------------------------------
+     * title     | Title     | Title | Titel | Titre
+     * name      | Name      | Name  | Name  | Prénom
      * ...
      *
      * @param $columns
@@ -21,28 +22,31 @@ class MessageExport extends ExportModel
      */
     public function exportData($columns, $sessionKey = null)
     {
-        return Message::all()->map(function($message) use($columns) {
+        return Message::all()->map(function ($message) use ($columns) {
             $data = $message->message_data;
-
             // Add code to data to simplify algorithm
             $data[self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME] = $message->code;
 
             $result = [];
-
             foreach ($columns as $column) {
                 $result[$column] = isset($data[$column]) ? $data[$column] : '';
             }
-
-            return  $result;
+            return $result;
         })->toArray();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * getColumns
+     *
+     * code, default column + all existing locales
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
     public static function getColumns()
     {
-        // Code column + all existing locales
-        return array_merge(
-            [self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME => self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME],
-            Locale::lists(self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME, self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME)
-        );
+        return array_merge([
+            self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME => self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME,
+            Message::DEFAULT_LOCALE => self::DEFAULT_COLUMN_NAME,
+        ], Locale::lists(self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME, self::CODE_COLUMN_NAME));
     }
 }
diff --git a/models/MessageImport.php b/models/MessageImport.php
index 57148475..e7909ad8 100644
--- a/models/MessageImport.php
+++ b/models/MessageImport.php
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ public function importData($results, $sessionKey = null)
                     // Create empty array, if $message is new
                     $message->message_data = $message->message_data ?: [];
 
-                    if(!isset($message->message_data[Message::DEFAULT_LOCALE])) {
+                    if (!isset($message->message_data[Message::DEFAULT_LOCALE])) {
                         $result[Message::DEFAULT_LOCALE] = $code;
                     }
 
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ public function importData($results, $sessionKey = null)
                     }
 
                     $message->save();
-
                 } else {
                     $this->logSkipped($index, 'No code provided');
                 }
@@ -66,5 +65,4 @@ public function importData($results, $sessionKey = null)
             }
         }
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/models/ExportMessageTest.php b/tests/unit/models/ExportMessageTest.php
index 41c88d99..76262c9b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/models/ExportMessageTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/models/ExportMessageTest.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 use PluginTestCase;
 use RainLab\Translate\Models\Message;
 use RainLab\Translate\Models\MessageExport;
+use RainLab\Translate\Models\Locale;
 
 class ExportMessageTest extends PluginTestCase
 {
@@ -80,4 +81,18 @@ private function createMessages()
         ]);
     }
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+    public function testGetColumns()
+    {
+        Locale::unguard();
+        Locale::create(['code' => 'de', 'name' => 'German', 'is_enabled' => true]);
+
+        $columns = MessageExport::getColumns();
+
+        $this->assertEquals([
+            MessageExport::CODE_COLUMN_NAME => MessageExport::CODE_COLUMN_NAME,
+            Message::DEFAULT_LOCALE => MessageExport::DEFAULT_COLUMN_NAME,
+            'en' => 'en',
+            'de' => 'de',
+        ], $columns);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/models/ImportMessageTest.php b/tests/unit/models/ImportMessageTest.php
index 491eb5d7..8b9c02ab 100644
--- a/tests/unit/models/ImportMessageTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/models/ImportMessageTest.php
@@ -71,4 +71,25 @@ public function testMissingCodeIsSkipped()
         $this->assertEquals(true, $stats->hasMessages);
         $this->assertEquals(Message::count(), 0);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    public function testDefaultLocaleIsImported()
+    {
+        $messageImport = new MessageImport();
+        $data = [
+            ['code' => 'test.me', 'x' => 'foo bar', 'de' => 'Neu 2', 'en' => 'new 2']
+        ];
+
+        $messageImport->importData($data);
+
+        $stats = $messageImport->getResultStats();
+        $this->assertEquals(1, $stats->created);
+        $this->assertEquals(0, $stats->updated);
+        $this->assertEquals(0, $stats->skippedCount);
+        $this->assertEquals(false, $stats->hasMessages);
+        $this->assertEquals(Message::count(), 1);
+
+        $message = Message::where('code', 'test.me')->first();
+
+        $this->assertEquals('foo bar', $message->message_data['x']);
+    }
+}