diff --git a/gateway/gateway.go b/gateway/gateway.go
index 830a734e..e221b21e 100644
--- a/gateway/gateway.go
+++ b/gateway/gateway.go
@@ -90,8 +90,18 @@ func New(cfg config.Gateway, r *Router) *Gateway {
 	cache, _ := lru.New(5000)
 	gw.Messages = cache
 	gw.AddConfig(&cfg)
+
+	var err error
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	gw.GTClient, _ = translate.NewClient(ctx)
+	credsJson, _ := b64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(os.Getenv("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS_BASE64"))
+	creds, _ := google.CredentialsFromJSON(ctx, credsJson, translate.Scope)
+	gw.GTClient, err = translate.NewClient(ctx, option.WithCredentials(creds))
+	if err != nil {
+		flog.Warnf("Google Translate API failed to authorize: " + err.Error())
+	} else {
+		flog.Infof("Google Translation enabled.")
+  }
+
 	return gw
 }
 
@@ -274,8 +284,7 @@ func (gw *Gateway) handleMessage(msg config.Message, dest *bridge.Bridge) []*BrM
 		msg.Avatar = gw.modifyAvatar(origmsg, dest)
 		msg.Username = gw.modifyUsername(origmsg, dest)
 		msg.ID = ""
-		credsEnc, ok := os.LookupEnv("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS_BASE64")
-		if ok && channel.Options.Locale != "" {
+		if (gw.GTClient != nil) && (channel.Options.Locale != "") {
 
 			attribution, ok := os.LookupEnv("GOOGLE_TRANSLATE_ATTRIBUTION")
 			if !(ok) {
@@ -285,9 +294,7 @@ func (gw *Gateway) handleMessage(msg config.Message, dest *bridge.Bridge) []*BrM
 			ctx := context.Background()
 			lang, _ := language.Parse(channel.Options.Locale)
 
-			credsDec, _ := b64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(credsEnc)
-			creds, _ := google.CredentialsFromJSON(ctx, credsDec, translate.Scope)
-			client, _ := translate.NewClient(ctx, option.WithCredentials(creds))
+			client := gw.GTClient
 			defer client.Close()
 
 			text := msg.Text
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2749b673..3dbe87dc 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/viper v0.0.0-20171227194143-aafc9e6bc7b7
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v0.0.0-20170714215325-05e8a0eda380
 	github.com/technoweenie/multipartstreamer v1.0.1 // indirect
+	github.com/urakozz/go-emoji v0.0.0-20151023072830-41ef589a5285
 	github.com/valyala/bytebufferpool v0.0.0-20160817181652-e746df99fe4a // indirect
 	github.com/valyala/fasttemplate v0.0.0-20170224212429-dcecefd839c4 // indirect
 	github.com/x-cray/logrus-prefixed-formatter v0.5.2 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 7964e1cd..5051a21e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -153,6 +153,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v0.0.0-20170714215325-05e8a0eda380 h1:MsolbevHkd4Spb
 github.com/stretchr/testify v0.0.0-20170714215325-05e8a0eda380/go.mod h1:a8OnRcib4nhh0OaRAV+Yts87kKdq0PP7pXfy6kDkUVs=
 github.com/technoweenie/multipartstreamer v1.0.1 h1:XRztA5MXiR1TIRHxH2uNxXxaIkKQDeX7m2XsSOlQEnM=
 github.com/technoweenie/multipartstreamer v1.0.1/go.mod h1:jNVxdtShOxzAsukZwTSw6MDx5eUJoiEBsSvzDU9uzog=
+github.com/urakozz/go-emoji v0.0.0-20151023072830-41ef589a5285 h1:zsUvs7Dg5tDVBwGbxY+6Hal2PSEH7p6vOiM/g9h2iW4=
+github.com/urakozz/go-emoji v0.0.0-20151023072830-41ef589a5285/go.mod h1:esxJGKpQ1iOwOuX/CGCm7zpH/NasLh4P/UIKWIq4NY8=
 github.com/valyala/bytebufferpool v0.0.0-20160817181652-e746df99fe4a h1:AOcehBWpFhYPYw0ioDTppQzgI8pAAahVCiMSKTp9rbo=
 github.com/valyala/bytebufferpool v0.0.0-20160817181652-e746df99fe4a/go.mod h1:6bBcMArwyJ5K/AmCkWv1jt77kVWyCJ6HpOuEn7z0Csc=
 github.com/valyala/fasttemplate v0.0.0-20170224212429-dcecefd839c4 h1:gKMu1Bf6QINDnvyZuTaACm9ofY+PRh+5vFz4oxBZeF8=