diff --git a/UPGRADE-3.0.md b/UPGRADE-3.0.md
index 14520c1c6f..fcfd9f91c6 100644
--- a/UPGRADE-3.0.md
+++ b/UPGRADE-3.0.md
@@ -977,6 +977,22 @@ UPGRADE FROM 2.x to 3.0
    $plural = $violation->getPlural();
    ```
 
+ * The class `Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator` was removed. You
+   should use `Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator` instead.
+
+   Before:
+
+   ```php
+   $translator = new \Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator();
+   ```
+
+   After:
+
+   ```php
+   $translator = new \Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator();
+   $translator->setLocale('en');
+   ```
+
 ### Yaml
 
  * The ability to pass file names to `Yaml::parse()` has been removed.
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
index 88153faf17..dc925b75bd 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 CHANGELOG
 =========
 
+2.7.0
+-----
+
+ * deprecated `DefaultTranslator` in favor of `Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator`
+
 2.6.0
 -----
 
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/DefaultTranslator.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/DefaultTranslator.php
index 06967de922..e15942f80d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/DefaultTranslator.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/DefaultTranslator.php
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Validator;
 
+trigger_error('The class '.__NAMESPACE__.'\DefaultTranslator is deprecated since version 2.7 and will be removed in 3.0. Use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator instead.', E_USER_DEPRECATED);
+
 use Symfony\Component\Translation\TranslatorInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Exception\BadMethodCallException;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Exception\InvalidArgumentException;
@@ -43,6 +45,8 @@ use Symfony\Component\Validator\Exception\InvalidArgumentException;
  * {@link \Symfony\Component\Translation\Translator} and can be used in places
  * where translation is not required by default but should be optional.
  *
+ * @deprecated since version 2.7, to be removed in 3.0. Use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator instead.
+ *
  * @author Bernhard Schussek <bschussek@gmail.com>
  */
 class DefaultTranslator implements TranslatorInterface
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
index 3e1e442f75..ce4b1ad88e 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests\Validator;
 
+use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\ConstraintValidatorFactory;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\LegacyExecutionContextFactory;
-use Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\MetadataFactoryInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Validator\LegacyValidator;
 
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ class LegacyValidator2Dot5ApiTest extends Abstract2Dot5ApiTest
 
     protected function createValidator(MetadataFactoryInterface $metadataFactory, array $objectInitializers = array())
     {
-        $contextFactory = new LegacyExecutionContextFactory($metadataFactory, new DefaultTranslator());
+        $translator = new IdentityTranslator();
+        $translator->setLocale('en');
+
+        $contextFactory = new LegacyExecutionContextFactory($metadataFactory, $translator);
         $validatorFactory = new ConstraintValidatorFactory();
 
         return new LegacyValidator($contextFactory, $metadataFactory, $validatorFactory, $objectInitializers);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidatorLegacyApiTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidatorLegacyApiTest.php
index 3f02a5af71..0c0ce3546d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidatorLegacyApiTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/LegacyValidatorLegacyApiTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests\Validator;
 
+use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\ConstraintValidatorFactory;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\LegacyExecutionContextFactory;
-use Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\MetadataFactoryInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Validator\LegacyValidator;
 
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ class LegacyValidatorLegacyApiTest extends AbstractLegacyApiTest
 
     protected function createValidator(MetadataFactoryInterface $metadataFactory, array $objectInitializers = array())
     {
-        $contextFactory = new LegacyExecutionContextFactory($metadataFactory, new DefaultTranslator());
+        $translator = new IdentityTranslator();
+        $translator->setLocale('en');
+
+        $contextFactory = new LegacyExecutionContextFactory($metadataFactory, $translator);
         $validatorFactory = new ConstraintValidatorFactory();
 
         return new LegacyValidator($contextFactory, $metadataFactory, $validatorFactory, $objectInitializers);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/RecursiveValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/RecursiveValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
index 6235fda902..05961269a5 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/RecursiveValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/Validator/RecursiveValidator2Dot5ApiTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests\Validator;
 
+use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\ConstraintValidatorFactory;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\ExecutionContextFactory;
-use Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\MetadataFactoryInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Validator\RecursiveValidator;
 
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ class RecursiveValidator2Dot5ApiTest extends Abstract2Dot5ApiTest
 {
     protected function createValidator(MetadataFactoryInterface $metadataFactory, array $objectInitializers = array())
     {
-        $contextFactory = new ExecutionContextFactory(new DefaultTranslator());
+        $translator = new IdentityTranslator();
+        $translator->setLocale('en');
+
+        $contextFactory = new ExecutionContextFactory($translator);
         $validatorFactory = new ConstraintValidatorFactory();
 
         return new RecursiveValidator($contextFactory, $metadataFactory, $validatorFactory, $objectInitializers);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidatorTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidatorTest.php
index 3cc36f5e23..ebeeb3af0f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidatorTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/Tests/ValidatorTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests;
 
+use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\Valid;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\ConstraintValidatorFactory;
-use Symfony\Component\Validator\DefaultTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\MetadataFactoryInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests\Fixtures\Entity;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Tests\Validator\AbstractLegacyApiTest;
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ class ValidatorTest extends AbstractLegacyApiTest
 {
     protected function createValidator(MetadataFactoryInterface $metadataFactory, array $objectInitializers = array())
     {
-        return new LegacyValidator($metadataFactory, new ConstraintValidatorFactory(), new DefaultTranslator(), 'validators', $objectInitializers);
+        $translator = new IdentityTranslator();
+        $translator->setLocale('en');
+
+        return new LegacyValidator($metadataFactory, new ConstraintValidatorFactory(), $translator, 'validators', $objectInitializers);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidatorBuilder.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidatorBuilder.php
index f80435a4da..c9eece4474 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidatorBuilder.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/ValidatorBuilder.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Doctrine\Common\Annotations\CachedReader;
 use Doctrine\Common\Annotations\Reader;
 use Doctrine\Common\Cache\ArrayCache;
 use Symfony\Component\PropertyAccess\PropertyAccessorInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Translation\IdentityTranslator;
 use Symfony\Component\Translation\TranslatorInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\ExecutionContextFactory;
 use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\LegacyExecutionContextFactory;
@@ -398,7 +399,16 @@ class ValidatorBuilder implements ValidatorBuilderInterface
         }
 
         $validatorFactory = $this->validatorFactory ?: new ConstraintValidatorFactory($this->propertyAccessor);
-        $translator = $this->translator ?: new DefaultTranslator();
+        $translator = $this->translator;
+
+        if (null === $translator) {
+            $translator = new IdentityTranslator();
+            // Force the locale to be 'en' when no translator is provided rather than relying on the Intl default locale
+            // This avoids depending on Intl or the stub implementation being available. It also ensures that Symfony
+            // validation messages are pluralized properly even when the default locale gets changed because they are in
+            // English.
+            $translator->setLocale('en');
+        }
 
         if (Validation::API_VERSION_2_4 === $apiVersion) {
             return new ValidatorV24($metadataFactory, $validatorFactory, $translator, $this->translationDomain, $this->initializers);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/composer.json b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/composer.json
index 8a9c0b5b77..878fa36aaf 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/composer.json
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Validator/composer.json
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     ],
     "require": {
         "php": ">=5.3.3",
-        "symfony/translation": "~2.0,>=2.0.5|~3.0.0"
+        "symfony/translation": "~2.4|~3.0.0"
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "symfony/http-foundation": "~2.1|~3.0.0",