diff --git a/docs/advanced/currencies.rst b/docs/advanced/currencies.rst
index 26b66b531..addc94785 100644
--- a/docs/advanced/currencies.rst
+++ b/docs/advanced/currencies.rst
@@ -84,3 +84,16 @@ currency on its own dimension, and then implement transformations::
 More sophisticated formulas, e.g. dealing with flat fees and thresholds, can be
 implemented with arbitrary python code by programmatically defining a context (see
 :ref:`contexts`).
+
+Currency Symbols
+----------------
+
+Many common currency symbols are not supported by the pint parser. A preprocessor can be used as a workaround:
+
+.. doctest::
+
+   >>> import pint
+   >>> ureg = pint.UnitRegistry(preprocessors = [lambda s: s.replace("€", "EUR")])
+   >>> ureg.define("euro = [currency] = € = EUR")
+   >>> print(ureg.Quantity("1 €"))
+   1 euro
diff --git a/pint/testsuite/helpers.py b/pint/testsuite/helpers.py
index c9106b75a..d317e0755 100644
--- a/pint/testsuite/helpers.py
+++ b/pint/testsuite/helpers.py
@@ -128,9 +128,26 @@ def requires_numpy_at_least(version):
     )
 
 
-requires_babel = pytest.mark.skipif(
-    not HAS_BABEL, reason="Requires Babel with units support"
-)
+def requires_babel(tested_locales=[]):
+    if not HAS_BABEL:
+        return pytest.mark.skip("Requires Babel with units support")
+
+    import locale
+
+    default_locale = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC)
+    locales_unavailable = False
+    try:
+        for loc in tested_locales:
+            locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC, loc)
+    except locale.Error:
+        locales_unavailable = True
+    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC, default_locale)
+
+    return pytest.mark.skipif(
+        locales_unavailable, reason="Tested locales not available."
+    )
+
+
 requires_not_babel = pytest.mark.skipif(
     HAS_BABEL, reason="Requires Babel not to be installed"
 )
diff --git a/pint/testsuite/test_babel.py b/pint/testsuite/test_babel.py
index 2dd66d58d..9adcb04a9 100644
--- a/pint/testsuite/test_babel.py
+++ b/pint/testsuite/test_babel.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def test_no_babel(func_registry):
         distance.format_babel(locale="fr_FR", length="long")
 
 
-@helpers.requires_babel()
+@helpers.requires_babel(["fr_FR", "ro_RO"])
 def test_format(func_registry):
     ureg = func_registry
     dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def test_format(func_registry):
     assert mks.format_babel(locale="fr_FR") == "métrique"
 
 
-@helpers.requires_babel()
+@helpers.requires_babel(["fr_FR", "ro_RO"])
 def test_registry_locale():
     ureg = UnitRegistry(fmt_locale="fr_FR")
     dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def test_registry_locale():
     assert mks.format_babel(locale="fr_FR") == "métrique"
 
 
-@helpers.requires_babel()
+@helpers.requires_babel(["fr_FR"])
 def test_unit_format_babel():
     ureg = UnitRegistry(fmt_locale="fr_FR")
     volume = ureg.Unit("ml")
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def test_no_registry_locale(func_registry):
         distance.format_babel()
 
 
-@helpers.requires_babel()
+@helpers.requires_babel(["fr_FR"])
 def test_str(func_registry):
     ureg = func_registry
     d = 24.1 * ureg.meter
diff --git a/pint/testsuite/test_issues.py b/pint/testsuite/test_issues.py
index 3f3d69e67..97eca3cde 100644
--- a/pint/testsuite/test_issues.py
+++ b/pint/testsuite/test_issues.py
@@ -913,7 +913,7 @@ def test_issue1674(self, module_registry):
             arr_of_q * q_arr, np.array([Q_(2, "m^2"), Q_(8, "m s")], dtype="object")
         )
 
-    @helpers.requires_babel()
+    @helpers.requires_babel(["es_ES"])
     def test_issue_1400(self, sess_registry):
         q1 = 3.1 * sess_registry.W
         q2 = 3.1 * sess_registry.W / sess_registry.cm