diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 10f8ce66db..c853648e00 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -743,17 +743,7 @@ config.mak: configure
 	@echo "############################################################"
 
 help_mp.h: help/help_mp-en.h $(HELP_FILE)
-	@echo '// WARNING! This is a generated file. Do NOT edit.' > $@
-	@echo '// See the help/ subdir for the editable files.' >> $@
-	@echo '#ifndef MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H' >> $@
-	@echo '#define MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H' >> $@
-	@cat "$(HELP_FILE)" >> $@
-	@echo '// untranslated messages from the English master file:' >> $@
-	help/help_diff.sh $(HELP_FILE) < help/help_mp-en.h >> $@
-	@echo '#endif /* MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H */' >> $@
-ifneq ($(CHARSET),UTF-8)
-	iconv -f UTF-8 -t $(CHARSET) $@ > $@.tmp; mv $@.tmp $@
-endif
+	help/help_create.sh $(HELP_FILE) $(CHARSET)
 
 # rebuild version.h each time the working copy is updated
 ifeq ($(wildcard .svn/entries),.svn/entries)
diff --git a/help/help_create.sh b/help/help_create.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ccb756d6b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/help/help_create.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Create the messages header file from the master source file or a translation.
+# Missing messages are filled in from the master message file and, if
+# requested, character set conversion is performed.
+
+MASTER=help/help_mp-en.h
+TARGET=help_mp.h
+
+TRANSLATION=$1
+CHARSET=$2
+
+missing_messages(){
+curr=""
+
+while read -r line; do
+	if echo "$line" | grep -q '^#define' ; then
+		curr=`printf "%s\n" "$line" | cut -d ' ' -f 2`
+		if grep -q "^#define $curr[	 ]" "$TRANSLATION" ; then
+			curr=""
+		fi
+	else
+		if [ -z "$line" ]; then
+			curr=""
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	if [ -n "$curr" ]; then
+		printf "%s\n" "$line"
+	fi
+done
+}
+
+cat <<EOF > "$TARGET"
+/* WARNING! This is a generated file, do NOT edit.
+ * See the help/ subdirectory for the editable files. */
+
+#ifndef MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H
+#define MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H
+
+EOF
+
+cat "$TRANSLATION" >> "$TARGET"
+
+cat <<EOF >> "$TARGET"
+
+/* untranslated messages from the English master file */
+
+EOF
+
+if test "$MASTER" != "$TRANSLATION" ; then
+    missing_messages < "$MASTER" >> "$TARGET"
+fi
+
+cat <<EOF >> "$TARGET"
+
+#endif /* MPLAYER_HELP_MP_H */
+EOF
+
+if test $CHARSET != UTF-8 ; then
+    iconv -f UTF-8 -t "$CHARSET" "$TARGET" > "${TARGET}.tmp"
+    mv "${TARGET}.tmp" "$TARGET"
+fi
diff --git a/help/help_diff.sh b/help/help_diff.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 17c8e83e36..0000000000
--- a/help/help_diff.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# This script walks through the master (stdin) help/message file, and
-# prints (stdout) only those messages which are missing from the help
-# file given as parameter ($1).
-#
-# Example: help_diff.sh help_mp-hu.h < help_mp-en.h > missing.h
-
-# Processing the master file, nothing to do.
-test $1 = "help/help_mp-en.h" && exit 0
-
-curr=""
-
-while read -r line; do
-	if echo "$line" | grep -q '^#define' ; then
-		curr=`printf "%s\n" "$line" | cut -d ' ' -f 2`
-		if grep -q "^#define $curr[	 ]" $1 ; then
-			curr=""
-		fi
-	else
-		if [ -z "$line" ]; then
-			curr=""
-		fi
-	fi
-
-	if [ -n "$curr" ]; then
-		printf "%s\n" "$line"
-	fi
-done