diff --git a/autograder-api/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/api/AbstractLinter.java b/autograder-api/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/api/AbstractLinter.java
index 8ad28f41..cad22757 100644
--- a/autograder-api/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/api/AbstractLinter.java
+++ b/autograder-api/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/api/AbstractLinter.java
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 package de.firemage.autograder.api;
 
+import fluent.bundle.FluentBundle;
+import fluent.bundle.FluentResource;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
@@ -20,6 +24,7 @@ class Builder {
         private int threads;
         private ClassLoader classLoader;
         private int maxProblemsPerCheck = -1;
+        private List<FluentResource> messageOverrides = new ArrayList<>();
 
         private Builder(Locale locale) {
             this.locale = locale;
@@ -64,5 +69,14 @@ public ClassLoader getClassLoader() {
         public Locale getLocale() {
             return locale;
         }
+
+        public Builder messagesOverride(FluentResource bundle) {
+            this.messageOverrides.add(bundle);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        public List<FluentResource> getMessageOverrides() {
+            return this.messageOverrides;
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/autograder-core/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/Linter.java b/autograder-core/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/Linter.java
index 8d9727db..838d6395 100644
--- a/autograder-core/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/Linter.java
+++ b/autograder-core/src/main/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/Linter.java
@@ -56,10 +56,22 @@ public Linter(
             default -> throw new IllegalArgumentException("No translation available for the locale " + locale);
         };
         try {
-            FluentResource resource = FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(
-                new String(this.getClass().getResourceAsStream(filename).readAllBytes(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)
+            var fluentBuilder = FluentBundle.builder(locale, ICUFunctionFactory.INSTANCE);
+
+            // The name FluentBuilder#addResourceOverriding is a lie; it does not override preexisting messages
+
+            // message overrides
+            for (var bundle : builder.getMessageOverrides()) {
+                fluentBuilder.addResourceOverriding(bundle);
+            }
+
+            // default messages
+            FluentResource defaultMessages = FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(
+                    new String(this.getClass().getResourceAsStream(filename).readAllBytes(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)
             ));
-            this.fluentBundle = FluentBundle.builder(locale, ICUFunctionFactory.INSTANCE).addResource(resource).build();
+            fluentBuilder.addResourceOverriding(defaultMessages);
+
+            this.fluentBundle = fluentBuilder.build();
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(e);
         }
diff --git a/autograder-core/src/test/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/TestMessageOverriding.java b/autograder-core/src/test/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/TestMessageOverriding.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b2fab5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autograder-core/src/test/java/de/firemage/autograder/core/TestMessageOverriding.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package de.firemage.autograder.core;
+
+import de.firemage.autograder.api.AbstractLinter;
+import fluent.syntax.parser.FTLParser;
+import fluent.syntax.parser.FTLStream;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+public class TestMessageOverriding {
+    @Test
+    void testNoMessageOverride() {
+        var builder = AbstractLinter.builder(Locale.ENGLISH);
+        var linter = new Linter(builder);
+        String msg = linter.translateMessage(new LocalizedMessage("status-compiling"));
+        assertEquals("Compiling", msg);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testSingleMessageOverride() {
+        String fluentFile = "status-compiling = Foo Bar";
+
+        var builder =
+                AbstractLinter.builder(Locale.ENGLISH).messagesOverride(FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(fluentFile)));
+        var linter = new Linter(builder);
+        String msg = linter.translateMessage(new LocalizedMessage("status-compiling"));
+        assertEquals("Foo Bar", msg);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testDoubleMessageOverride() {
+        String fluentFile1 = "status-compiling = param {$x}";
+        String fluentFile2 = "status-compiling = Foo Bar";
+
+        var builder = AbstractLinter.builder(Locale.ENGLISH)
+                .messagesOverride(FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(fluentFile1)))
+                .messagesOverride(FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(fluentFile2)));
+        var linter = new Linter(builder);
+        String msg = linter.translateMessage(new LocalizedMessage("status-compiling", Map.of("x", "xyz")));
+        assertEquals("param xyz", msg);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testNonOverriddenMessageWithOverrides() {
+        String fluentFile = "status-compiling = Foo Bar";
+
+        var builder =
+                AbstractLinter.builder(Locale.ENGLISH).messagesOverride(FTLParser.parse(FTLStream.of(fluentFile)));
+        var linter = new Linter(builder);
+        String msg = linter.translateMessage(new LocalizedMessage("status-model"));
+        assertEquals("Building the code model", msg);
+    }
+}