diff --git a/kioslave/desktop/CMakeLists.txt b/kioslave/desktop/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/kioslave/desktop/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kioslave/desktop/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+add_definitions(-DTRANSLATION_DOMAIN=\"kio_desktop\")
+
 add_subdirectory(tests)
 
 add_library(kio_desktop MODULE kio_desktop.cpp)
 
-target_link_libraries(kio_desktop Qt5::DBus Qt5::Gui KF5::KIOCore)
+target_link_libraries(kio_desktop Qt5::DBus Qt5::Gui KF5::KIOCore KF5::I18n)
 
 set_target_properties(kio_desktop PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME "desktop")
 
diff --git a/kioslave/desktop/Messages.sh b/kioslave/desktop/Messages.sh
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kioslave/desktop/Messages.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+$XGETTEXT `find . -name \*.cpp` -o $podir/kio_desktop.pot
diff --git a/kioslave/desktop/kio_desktop.cpp b/kioslave/desktop/kio_desktop.cpp
--- a/kioslave/desktop/kio_desktop.cpp
+++ b/kioslave/desktop/kio_desktop.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <KConfigGroup>
 #include <KDesktopFile>
 #include <KDirNotify>
+#include <KLocalizedString>
 
 #include <kio/udsentry.h>
 #include <kio_version.h>
@@ -166,6 +167,12 @@
             entry.insert(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_HIDDEN, 1);
     }
 
+    // Set a descriptive display name for the root item
+    if (requestedUrl().path() == QLatin1String("/")
+        && entry.stringValue(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_NAME) == QLatin1String(".")) {
+        entry.insert(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_DISPLAY_NAME, i18n("Desktop Folder"));
+    }
+
     // Set the target URL to the local path 
     QUrl localUrl(QUrl::fromLocalFile(entry.stringValue(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_LOCAL_PATH)));
     entry.insert(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_TARGET_URL, localUrl.toString());