diff --git a/lib/trans/query_builder.ex b/lib/trans/query_builder.ex
index 5055e3d..9e2d719 100644
--- a/lib/trans/query_builder.ex
+++ b/lib/trans/query_builder.ex
@@ -82,27 +82,23 @@ if Code.ensure_loaded?(Ecto.Query) do
       with field <- field(translatable) do
         with {module_name, []} <- Module.eval_quoted(__CALLER__, module) do
           validate_field(module_name, field)
-          generate_query(schema(translatable), module_name, field, locale(locale))
+          generate_query(schema(translatable), module_name, field, locale)
         end
       end
     end
 
     defp generate_query(schema, module, nil, locale) do
       quote do
-        fragment("(?->?)", field(unquote(schema), unquote(module.__trans__(:container))), ^unquote(locale))
+        fragment("(?->?)", field(unquote(schema), unquote(module.__trans__(:container))), ^to_string(unquote(locale)))
       end
     end
 
     defp generate_query(schema, module, field, locale) do
       quote do
-        fragment("(?->?->>?)", field(unquote(schema), unquote(module.__trans__(:container))), ^unquote(locale), ^unquote(field))
+        fragment("(?->?->>?)", field(unquote(schema), unquote(module.__trans__(:container))), ^to_string(unquote(locale)), ^unquote(field))
       end
     end
 
-    defp locale(locale) when is_atom(locale) and not is_nil(locale), do: to_string(locale)
-    defp locale(locale) when is_binary(locale), do: locale
-    defp locale(_), do: raise ArgumentError, message: "The locale code must be either an atom or a string"
-
     defp schema({{:., _, [schema, _field]}, _metadata, _args}), do: schema
     defp schema(schema), do: schema
 
diff --git a/test/query_builder_test.exs b/test/query_builder_test.exs
index e9cfbd1..4adcf14 100644
--- a/test/query_builder_test.exs
+++ b/test/query_builder_test.exs
@@ -148,21 +148,10 @@ defmodule QueryBuilderTest do
       fn -> Code.eval_quoted(invalid_module) end
   end
 
-  test "should raise when an invalid locale is specified" do
-    invalid_module = quote do
-      defmodule TestWrongQuery do
-        require Ecto.Query
-        import Ecto.Query, only: [from: 2]
-
-        def invalid_query do
-          from a in Article,
-            where: not is_nil(translated(Article, a.title, nil))
-        end
-      end
-    end
-
-    assert_raise ArgumentError,
-      "The locale code must be either an atom or a string",
-      fn -> Code.eval_quoted(invalid_module) end
+  test "should allow passing the locale from a variable" do
+    locale = :es
+    articles = Repo.all(from a in Article,
+      order_by: translated(Article, a.title, locale))
+    assert Enum.any?(articles)
   end
 end