diff --git a/time.go b/time.go
index 42a767d..591b49e 100644
--- a/time.go
+++ b/time.go
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ func TimeAgo(t time.Time) string {
 	}
 	switch {
 	case duration < 5*time.Second:
-		return T("time.just_now")
+		if text := T("time.just_now"); text != "time.just_now" {
+			return text
+		}
+		return "just now"
 	case duration < time.Minute:
 		return FormatAgo(int(duration/time.Second), "second")
 	case duration < time.Hour:
diff --git a/time_test.go b/time_test.go
index c7d9c76..46c8519 100644
--- a/time_test.go
+++ b/time_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package i18n
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"testing/fstest"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -93,6 +94,24 @@ func TestTimeAgo_Good_SingleUnits(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, got, "1 week ago")
 }
 
+func TestTimeAgo_Good_MissingJustNowKeyFallback(t *testing.T) {
+	svc, err := NewWithFS(fstest.MapFS{
+		"xx.json": &fstest.MapFile{
+			Data: []byte(`{}`),
+		},
+	}, ".")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	prev := Default()
+	SetDefault(svc)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		SetDefault(prev)
+	})
+
+	got := TimeAgo(time.Now().Add(-4 * time.Second))
+	assert.Equal(t, "just now", got)
+}
+
 // --- FormatAgo ---
 
 func TestFormatAgo_Good(t *testing.T) {