diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Layout.cshtml b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Layout.cshtml
index f14e71384..b5f60f2b6 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Layout.cshtml
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Layout.cshtml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 @model dynamic
 @using Orchard.Environment.Descriptor.Models
+@using Orchard.Localization
 @using Orchard.Security;
 @using Orchard.DisplayManagement.Descriptors;
 @using Orchard.UI.Resources;
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@
             }
 
             @if (Model.Content != null) {
-            <div id="content" class="group">
+            <div id="content" class="group" dir="@Html.Directionality()">
                 @Zone(Model.Content)
             </div>
             }
diff --git a/src/Orchard/Localization/HtmlLocalizationExtensions.cs b/src/Orchard/Localization/HtmlLocalizationExtensions.cs
index cb5d6af4b..439c2f5a6 100644
--- a/src/Orchard/Localization/HtmlLocalizationExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard/Localization/HtmlLocalizationExtensions.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ using Orchard.Mvc.Html;
 
 namespace Orchard.Localization {
     public static class HtmlLocalizationExtensions {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The dir attribute specifies the text direction.
+        /// 
+        /// Returns rtl or ltr based on if your content has an ILocalizableAspect or not.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>Returns rtl or ltr</returns>
+        public static string Directionality(this HtmlHelper html) {
+            return html.Directionality(null);
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// The dir attribute specifies the text direction of the element's content.
         /// 
@@ -20,7 +30,7 @@ namespace Orchard.Localization {
             var workContext = html.GetWorkContext();
 
             var culture = workContext.CurrentSite.SiteCulture;
-            if (content.Has<ILocalizableAspect>()) {
+            if (content != null && content.Has<ILocalizableAspect>()) {
                 return content.As<ILocalizableAspect>().Culture;
             }