diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/MainKeyboardView.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/MainKeyboardView.java
index 745e7dfed..dabc3075e 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/MainKeyboardView.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/MainKeyboardView.java
@@ -1460,7 +1460,7 @@ public final class MainKeyboardView extends KeyboardView implements PointerTrack
             return "";
         }
         final Locale locale = SubtypeLocale.getSubtypeLocale(subtype);
-        return StringUtils.toTitleCase(locale.getLanguage(), locale);
+        return StringUtils.capitalizeFirstCharacter(locale.getLanguage(), locale);
     }
 
     // Get InputMethodSubtype's middle display name in its locale.
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtils.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtils.java
index 59ad28fc9..4de104af5 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtils.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtils.java
@@ -106,10 +106,18 @@ public final class StringUtils {
         }
     }
 
+    public static String capitalizeFirstCharacter(final String s, final Locale locale) {
+        if (s.length() <= 1) {
+            return s.toUpperCase(locale);
+        }
+        // Please refer to the comment below in {@link #toTitleCase(String,Locale)}.
+        final int cutoff = s.offsetByCodePoints(0, 1);
+        return s.substring(0, cutoff).toUpperCase(locale) + s.substring(cutoff);
+    }
+
     public static String toTitleCase(final String s, final Locale locale) {
         if (s.length() <= 1) {
-            // TODO: is this really correct? Shouldn't this be s.toUpperCase()?
-            return s;
+            return s.toUpperCase(locale);
         }
         // TODO: fix the bugs below
         // - This does not work for Greek, because it returns upper case instead of title case.
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/SubtypeLocale.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/SubtypeLocale.java
index 5e28cc2d0..ae9cd8bde 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/SubtypeLocale.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/SubtypeLocale.java
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ public final class SubtypeLocale {
             final Locale locale = LocaleUtils.constructLocaleFromString(localeString);
             displayName = locale.getDisplayName(displayLocale);
         }
-        return StringUtils.toTitleCase(displayName, displayLocale);
+        return StringUtils.capitalizeFirstCharacter(displayName, displayLocale);
     }
 
     // InputMethodSubtype's display name in its locale.
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ public final class SubtypeLocale {
                 }
             }
         };
-        return StringUtils.toTitleCase(
+        return StringUtils.capitalizeFirstCharacter(
                 getSubtypeName.runInLocale(sResources, displayLocale), displayLocale);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/SpacebarTextTests.java b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/SpacebarTextTests.java
index 1398db97c..864e78f43 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/SpacebarTextTests.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/keyboard/SpacebarTextTests.java
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ public class SpacebarTextTests extends AndroidTestCase {
             final String subtypeName = SubtypeLocale.getSubtypeDisplayName(subtype);
             final Locale locale = SubtypeLocale.getSubtypeLocale(subtype);
             final String spacebarText = MainKeyboardView.getShortDisplayName(subtype);
-            final String languageCode = StringUtils.toTitleCase(locale.getLanguage(), locale);
+            final String languageCode = StringUtils.capitalizeFirstCharacter(
+                    locale.getLanguage(), locale);
             if (SubtypeLocale.isNoLanguage(subtype)) {
                 assertEquals(subtypeName, "", spacebarText);
             } else {
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtilsTests.java b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtilsTests.java
index 966919ed3..9760f0bd1 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtilsTests.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/StringUtilsTests.java
@@ -106,9 +106,7 @@ public class StringUtilsTests extends AndroidTestCase {
                 StringUtils.toTitleCase("iab", new Locale("tr")));
         assertEquals("Aib",
                 StringUtils.toTitleCase("AİB", new Locale("tr")));
-        // For one character, toTitleCase returns the string as is. Not sure what the motivation
-        // is, but that's how it works now.
-        assertEquals("a",
+        assertEquals("A",
                 StringUtils.toTitleCase("a", Locale.ENGLISH));
         assertEquals("A",
                 StringUtils.toTitleCase("A", Locale.ENGLISH));