diff --git a/packages/kbn-plugin-generator/sao_template/template/.i18nrc.json b/packages/kbn-plugin-generator/sao_template/template/.i18nrc.json
index edcca37a248f0a..3fb2834877898c 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-plugin-generator/sao_template/template/.i18nrc.json
+++ b/packages/kbn-plugin-generator/sao_template/template/.i18nrc.json
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 {
   "paths": {
     "<%= camelCase(name) %>": "./"
-  }
+  },
+  "translations": [
+    "translations/zh-CN.json"
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/src/legacy/server/i18n/get_translations_path.js b/src/legacy/server/i18n/get_translations_path.js
index 95de6c75606605..6ac3e75e1d4a85 100644
--- a/src/legacy/server/i18n/get_translations_path.js
+++ b/src/legacy/server/i18n/get_translations_path.js
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ export async function getTranslationPaths({ cwd, glob }) {
     try {
       const content = await readFileAsync(entryFullPath, 'utf8');
       const { translations } = JSON.parse(content);
-      translations.forEach(translation => {
-        const translationFullPath = resolve(pluginBasePath, translation);
-        translationPaths.push(translationFullPath);
-      });
+      if (translations && translations.length) {
+        translations.forEach(translation => {
+          const translationFullPath = resolve(pluginBasePath, translation);
+          translationPaths.push(translationFullPath);
+        });
+      }
     } catch (err) {
       throw new Error(`Failed to parse .i18nrc.json file at ${entryFullPath}`);
     }