diff --git a/pathauto.module b/pathauto.module
index 1875caa..c887e47 100644
--- a/pathauto.module
+++ b/pathauto.module
@@ -427,6 +427,25 @@ function path_field_extra_fields() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Returns the language code of the given entity.
+ *
+ * Backward compatibility layer to ensure that installations running an outdated
+ * version of core where entity_language() is not avilable do not break.
+ */
+function pathauto_entity_language($entity_type, $entity, $skip_fallback = FALSE) {
+  $langcode = NULL;
+
+  if (function_exists('entity_language')) {
+    $langcode = entity_language($entity_type, $entity);
+  }
+  elseif (!$skip_fallback && !empty($entity->language)) {
+    $langcode = $entity->language;
+  }
+
+  return !empty($langcode) ? $langcode : LANGUAGE_NONE;
+}
+
+/**
  * @name pathauto_node Pathauto integration for the core node module.
  * @{
  */
@@ -461,7 +480,8 @@ function pathauto_node_delete($node) {
  */
 function pathauto_form_node_form_alter(&$form, &$form_state) {
   $node = $form_state['node'];
-  pathauto_field_attach_form('node', $node, $form, $form_state, $node->language);
+  $langcode = pathauto_entity_language('node', $node);
+  pathauto_field_attach_form('node', $node, $form, $form_state, $langcode);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -492,9 +512,7 @@ function pathauto_node_update_alias(stdClass $node, $op, array $options = array(
     return;
   }
 
-  $options += array(
-    'language' => !empty($node->language) ? $node->language : LANGUAGE_NONE,
-  );
+  $options += array('language' => pathauto_entity_language('node', $node));
 
   // Skip processing if the node has no pattern.
   if (!pathauto_pattern_load_by_entity('node', $node->type, $options['language'])) {
@@ -574,7 +592,7 @@ function pathauto_taxonomy_term_delete($term) {
  */
 function pathauto_form_taxonomy_form_term_alter(&$form, $form_state) {
   $term = $form_state['term'];
-  $langcode = !empty($term->language) ? $term->language : LANGUAGE_NONE;
+  $langcode = pathauto_entity_language('taxonomy_term', $term);
   pathauto_field_attach_form('taxonomy_term', $term, $form, $form_state, $langcode);
 }
 
@@ -596,7 +614,7 @@ function pathauto_taxonomy_term_update_alias(stdClass $term, $op, array $options
 
   $options += array(
     'alias children' => FALSE,
-    'language' => !empty($term->language) ? $term->language : LANGUAGE_NONE,
+    'language' => pathauto_entity_language('taxonomy_term', $term),
   );
 
   $module = 'taxonomy_term';
@@ -727,7 +745,9 @@ function pathauto_user_update_alias(stdClass $account, $op, array $options = arr
 
   $options += array(
     'alias blog' => module_exists('blog'),
-    'language' => LANGUAGE_NONE,
+    // $user->language is not the user entity language, thus we need to skip the
+    // backward-compatibility fallback.
+    'language' => pathauto_entity_language('user', $account, TRUE),
   );
 
   // Skip processing if the account has no pattern.