diff --git a/doc/api.md b/doc/api.md
index b6742a6c..cb4b379a 100644
--- a/doc/api.md
+++ b/doc/api.md
@@ -415,11 +415,11 @@ locale:
 that take `std::locale` as a parameter. The locale type is a template
 parameter to avoid the expensive `<locale>` include.
 
-::: format(const Locale&, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
+::: format(locale_ref, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
 
-::: format_to(OutputIt, const Locale&, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
+::: format_to(OutputIt, locale_ref, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
 
-::: formatted_size(const Locale&, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
+::: formatted_size(locale_ref, format_string<T...>, T&&...)
 
 <a id="legacy-checks"></a>
 ### Legacy Compile-Time Checks
diff --git a/include/fmt/base.h b/include/fmt/base.h
index dde9b241..98129330 100644
--- a/include/fmt/base.h
+++ b/include/fmt/base.h
@@ -902,6 +902,29 @@ template <typename Char = char> class parse_context {
   FMT_CONSTEXPR void check_dynamic_spec(int arg_id);
 };
 
+#ifndef FMT_USE_LOCALE
+#  define FMT_USE_LOCALE (FMT_OPTIMIZE_SIZE <= 1)
+#endif
+
+// A type-erased reference to std::locale to avoid the heavy <locale> include.
+class locale_ref {
+#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
+ private:
+  const void* locale_;  // A type-erased pointer to std::locale.
+
+ public:
+  constexpr locale_ref() : locale_(nullptr) {}
+
+  template <typename Locale, FMT_ENABLE_IF(sizeof(Locale::collate) != 0)>
+  locale_ref(const Locale& loc);
+
+  inline explicit operator bool() const noexcept { return locale_ != nullptr; }
+#endif  // FMT_USE_LOCALE
+
+ public:
+  template <typename Locale> auto get() const -> Locale;
+};
+
 FMT_END_EXPORT
 
 namespace detail {
@@ -2301,27 +2324,6 @@ struct is_output_iterator<
     enable_if_t<std::is_assignable<decltype(*std::declval<decay_t<It>&>()++),
                                    T>::value>> : std::true_type {};
 
-#ifndef FMT_USE_LOCALE
-#  define FMT_USE_LOCALE (FMT_OPTIMIZE_SIZE <= 1)
-#endif
-
-// A type-erased reference to an std::locale to avoid a heavy <locale> include.
-class locale_ref {
-#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
- private:
-  const void* locale_;  // A type-erased pointer to std::locale.
-
- public:
-  constexpr locale_ref() : locale_(nullptr) {}
-  template <typename Locale> locale_ref(const Locale& loc);
-
-  inline explicit operator bool() const noexcept { return locale_ != nullptr; }
-#endif  // FMT_USE_LOCALE
-
- public:
-  template <typename Locale> auto get() const -> Locale;
-};
-
 template <typename> constexpr auto encode_types() -> unsigned long long {
   return 0;
 }
@@ -2665,7 +2667,7 @@ class context {
  private:
   appender out_;
   format_args args_;
-  FMT_NO_UNIQUE_ADDRESS detail::locale_ref loc_;
+  FMT_NO_UNIQUE_ADDRESS locale_ref loc_;
 
  public:
   using char_type = char;  ///< The character type for the output.
@@ -2675,8 +2677,7 @@ class context {
 
   /// Constructs a `context` object. References to the arguments are stored
   /// in the object so make sure they have appropriate lifetimes.
-  FMT_CONSTEXPR context(iterator out, format_args args,
-                        detail::locale_ref loc = {})
+  FMT_CONSTEXPR context(iterator out, format_args args, locale_ref loc = {})
       : out_(out), args_(args), loc_(loc) {}
   context(context&&) = default;
   context(const context&) = delete;
@@ -2697,7 +2698,7 @@ class context {
   // Advances the begin iterator to `it`.
   FMT_CONSTEXPR void advance_to(iterator) {}
 
-  FMT_CONSTEXPR auto locale() const -> detail::locale_ref { return loc_; }
+  FMT_CONSTEXPR auto locale() const -> locale_ref { return loc_; }
 };
 
 template <typename Char = char> struct runtime_format_string {
diff --git a/include/fmt/chrono.h b/include/fmt/chrono.h
index 6f9a363e..da40e70f 100644
--- a/include/fmt/chrono.h
+++ b/include/fmt/chrono.h
@@ -2230,7 +2230,7 @@ template <typename Char> struct formatter<std::tm, Char> {
     detail::handle_dynamic_spec(specs.dynamic_width(), specs.width, width_ref_,
                                 ctx);
 
-    auto loc_ref = specs.localized() ? ctx.locale() : detail::locale_ref();
+    auto loc_ref = specs.localized() ? ctx.locale() : locale_ref();
     detail::get_locale loc(static_cast<bool>(loc_ref), loc_ref);
     auto w = detail::tm_writer<basic_appender<Char>, Char, Duration>(
         loc, out, tm, subsecs);
diff --git a/include/fmt/format-inl.h b/include/fmt/format-inl.h
index 1304a91a..527a5bb1 100644
--- a/include/fmt/format-inl.h
+++ b/include/fmt/format-inl.h
@@ -41,6 +41,38 @@ FMT_FUNC void assert_fail(const char* file, int line, const char* message) {
 }
 #endif
 
+#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
+namespace detail {
+using std::locale;
+using std::numpunct;
+using std::use_facet;
+}  // namespace detail
+
+template <typename Locale, enable_if_t<(sizeof(Locale::collate) != 0), int>>
+locale_ref::locale_ref(const Locale& loc) : locale_(&loc) {
+  static_assert(std::is_same<Locale, std::locale>::value, "");
+}
+#else
+namespace detail {
+struct locale {};
+template <typename Char> struct numpunct {
+  auto grouping() const -> std::string { return "\03"; }
+  auto thousands_sep() const -> Char { return ','; }
+  auto decimal_point() const -> Char { return '.'; }
+};
+template <typename Facet> Facet use_facet(locale) { return {}; }
+}  // namespace detail
+#endif  // FMT_USE_LOCALE
+
+template <typename Locale> auto locale_ref::get() const -> Locale {
+  using namespace detail;
+  static_assert(std::is_same<Locale, locale>::value, "");
+#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
+  if (locale_) return *static_cast<const locale*>(locale_);
+#endif
+  return locale();
+}
+
 namespace detail {
 
 // DEPRECATED!
@@ -87,33 +119,6 @@ inline void fwrite_all(const void* ptr, size_t count, FILE* stream) {
     FMT_THROW(system_error(errno, FMT_STRING("cannot write to file")));
 }
 
-#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
-using std::locale;
-using std::numpunct;
-using std::use_facet;
-
-template <typename Locale>
-locale_ref::locale_ref(const Locale& loc) : locale_(&loc) {
-  static_assert(std::is_same<Locale, locale>::value, "");
-}
-#else
-struct locale {};
-template <typename Char> struct numpunct {
-  auto grouping() const -> std::string { return "\03"; }
-  auto thousands_sep() const -> Char { return ','; }
-  auto decimal_point() const -> Char { return '.'; }
-};
-template <typename Facet> Facet use_facet(locale) { return {}; }
-#endif  // FMT_USE_LOCALE
-
-template <typename Locale> auto locale_ref::get() const -> Locale {
-  static_assert(std::is_same<Locale, locale>::value, "");
-#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
-  if (locale_) return *static_cast<const locale*>(locale_);
-#endif
-  return locale();
-}
-
 template <typename Char>
 FMT_FUNC auto thousands_sep_impl(locale_ref loc) -> thousands_sep_result<Char> {
   auto&& facet = use_facet<numpunct<Char>>(loc.get<locale>());
diff --git a/include/fmt/format.h b/include/fmt/format.h
index e3b85feb..9c0056db 100644
--- a/include/fmt/format.h
+++ b/include/fmt/format.h
@@ -1846,16 +1846,6 @@ FMT_CONSTEXPR auto write_char(OutputIt out, Char value,
     return it;
   });
 }
-template <typename Char, typename OutputIt>
-FMT_CONSTEXPR auto write(OutputIt out, Char value, const format_specs& specs,
-                         locale_ref loc = {}) -> OutputIt {
-  // char is formatted as unsigned char for consistency across platforms.
-  using unsigned_type =
-      conditional_t<std::is_same<Char, char>::value, unsigned char, unsigned>;
-  return check_char_specs(specs)
-             ? write_char<Char>(out, value, specs)
-             : write<Char>(out, static_cast<unsigned_type>(value), specs, loc);
-}
 
 template <typename Char> class digit_grouping {
  private:
@@ -1879,9 +1869,7 @@ template <typename Char> class digit_grouping {
   }
 
  public:
-  template <typename Locale,
-            FMT_ENABLE_IF(std::is_same<Locale, locale_ref>::value)>
-  explicit digit_grouping(Locale loc, bool localized = true) {
+  explicit digit_grouping(locale_ref loc, bool localized = true) {
     if (!localized) return;
     auto sep = thousands_sep<Char>(loc);
     grouping_ = sep.grouping;
@@ -1981,6 +1969,8 @@ auto write_int(OutputIt out, UInt value, unsigned prefix,
 // Writes a localized value.
 FMT_API auto write_loc(appender out, loc_value value, const format_specs& specs,
                        locale_ref loc) -> bool;
+auto write_loc(basic_appender<wchar_t> out, loc_value value,
+               const format_specs& specs, locale_ref loc) -> bool;
 #endif
 template <typename OutputIt>
 inline auto write_loc(OutputIt, const loc_value&, const format_specs&,
@@ -2147,6 +2137,17 @@ FMT_CONSTEXPR FMT_INLINE auto write(OutputIt out, T value,
   return write_int<Char>(out, make_write_int_arg(value, specs.sign()), specs);
 }
 
+template <typename Char, typename OutputIt>
+FMT_CONSTEXPR auto write(OutputIt out, Char value, const format_specs& specs,
+                         locale_ref loc = {}) -> OutputIt {
+  // char is formatted as unsigned char for consistency across platforms.
+  using unsigned_type =
+      conditional_t<std::is_same<Char, char>::value, unsigned char, unsigned>;
+  return check_char_specs(specs)
+             ? write_char<Char>(out, value, specs)
+             : write<Char>(out, static_cast<unsigned_type>(value), specs, loc);
+}
+
 template <typename Char, typename OutputIt,
           FMT_ENABLE_IF(std::is_same<Char, char>::value)>
 FMT_CONSTEXPR auto write(OutputIt out, basic_string_view<Char> s,
@@ -3819,12 +3820,6 @@ FMT_CONSTEXPR auto native_formatter<T, Char, TYPE>::format(
   return write<Char>(ctx.out(), val, specs, ctx.locale());
 }
 
-// DEPRECATED! https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt/issues/4292.
-template <typename T, typename Enable = void>
-struct is_locale : std::false_type {};
-template <typename T>
-struct is_locale<T, void_t<decltype(T::classic())>> : std::true_type {};
-
 // DEPRECATED!
 template <typename Char = char> struct vformat_args {
   using type = basic_format_args<buffered_context<Char>>;
@@ -3851,7 +3846,7 @@ template <typename OutputIt, typename Char> class generic_context {
  private:
   OutputIt out_;
   basic_format_args<generic_context> args_;
-  detail::locale_ref loc_;
+  locale_ref loc_;
 
  public:
   using char_type = Char;
@@ -3863,7 +3858,7 @@ template <typename OutputIt, typename Char> class generic_context {
 
   constexpr generic_context(OutputIt out,
                             basic_format_args<generic_context> args,
-                            detail::locale_ref loc = {})
+                            locale_ref loc = {})
       : out_(out), args_(args), loc_(loc) {}
   generic_context(generic_context&&) = default;
   generic_context(const generic_context&) = delete;
@@ -3886,7 +3881,7 @@ template <typename OutputIt, typename Char> class generic_context {
     if (!detail::is_back_insert_iterator<iterator>()) out_ = it;
   }
 
-  constexpr auto locale() const -> detail::locale_ref { return loc_; }
+  constexpr auto locale() const -> locale_ref { return loc_; }
 };
 
 class loc_value {
@@ -4307,46 +4302,41 @@ FMT_API void format_system_error(detail::buffer<char>& out, int error_code,
 // Can be used to report errors from destructors.
 FMT_API void report_system_error(int error_code, const char* message) noexcept;
 
-template <typename Locale, FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_locale<Locale>::value)>
-inline auto vformat(const Locale& loc, string_view fmt, format_args args)
+inline auto vformat(locale_ref loc, string_view fmt, format_args args)
     -> std::string {
   auto buf = memory_buffer();
-  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt, args, detail::locale_ref(loc));
+  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt, args, loc);
   return {buf.data(), buf.size()};
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename... T,
-          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_locale<Locale>::value)>
-FMT_INLINE auto format(const Locale& loc, format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args)
+template <typename... T>
+FMT_INLINE auto format(locale_ref loc, format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args)
     -> std::string {
   return vformat(loc, fmt.str, vargs<T...>{{args...}});
 }
 
-template <typename OutputIt, typename Locale,
+template <typename OutputIt,
           FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_output_iterator<OutputIt, char>::value)>
-auto vformat_to(OutputIt out, const Locale& loc, string_view fmt,
-                format_args args) -> OutputIt {
+auto vformat_to(OutputIt out, locale_ref loc, string_view fmt, format_args args)
+    -> OutputIt {
   auto&& buf = detail::get_buffer<char>(out);
-  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt, args, detail::locale_ref(loc));
+  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt, args, loc);
   return detail::get_iterator(buf, out);
 }
 
-template <typename OutputIt, typename Locale, typename... T,
-          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_output_iterator<OutputIt, char>::value&&
-                            detail::is_locale<Locale>::value)>
-FMT_INLINE auto format_to(OutputIt out, const Locale& loc,
-                          format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args) -> OutputIt {
+template <typename OutputIt, typename... T,
+          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_output_iterator<OutputIt, char>::value)>
+FMT_INLINE auto format_to(OutputIt out, locale_ref loc, format_string<T...> fmt,
+                          T&&... args) -> OutputIt {
   return fmt::vformat_to(out, loc, fmt.str, vargs<T...>{{args...}});
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename... T,
-          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_locale<Locale>::value)>
-FMT_NODISCARD FMT_INLINE auto formatted_size(const Locale& loc,
+template <typename... T>
+FMT_NODISCARD FMT_INLINE auto formatted_size(locale_ref loc,
                                              format_string<T...> fmt,
                                              T&&... args) -> size_t {
   auto buf = detail::counting_buffer<>();
-  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt.str, vargs<T...>{{args...}},
-                     detail::locale_ref(loc));
+  detail::vformat_to(buf, fmt.str, vargs<T...>{{args...}}, loc);
   return buf.count();
 }
 
diff --git a/include/fmt/printf.h b/include/fmt/printf.h
index e7268401..ca184739 100644
--- a/include/fmt/printf.h
+++ b/include/fmt/printf.h
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ template <typename Char> class basic_printf_context {
   auto out() -> basic_appender<Char> { return out_; }
   void advance_to(basic_appender<Char>) {}
 
-  auto locale() -> detail::locale_ref { return {}; }
+  auto locale() -> locale_ref { return {}; }
 
   auto arg(int id) const -> basic_format_arg<basic_printf_context> {
     return args_.get(id);
diff --git a/include/fmt/xchar.h b/include/fmt/xchar.h
index c0240a3e..df5dc926 100644
--- a/include/fmt/xchar.h
+++ b/include/fmt/xchar.h
@@ -183,24 +183,20 @@ auto format(const S& fmt, T&&... args) -> std::basic_string<Char> {
                  fmt::make_format_args<buffered_context<Char>>(args...));
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename S,
-          typename Char = detail::format_string_char_t<S>,
-          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_locale<Locale>::value&&
-                            detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
-inline auto vformat(const Locale& loc, const S& fmt,
+template <typename S, typename Char = detail::format_string_char_t<S>,
+          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
+inline auto vformat(locale_ref loc, const S& fmt,
                     typename detail::vformat_args<Char>::type args)
     -> std::basic_string<Char> {
   auto buf = basic_memory_buffer<Char>();
-  detail::vformat_to(buf, detail::to_string_view(fmt), args,
-                     detail::locale_ref(loc));
+  detail::vformat_to(buf, detail::to_string_view(fmt), args, loc);
   return {buf.data(), buf.size()};
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename S, typename... T,
+template <typename S, typename... T,
           typename Char = detail::format_string_char_t<S>,
-          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_locale<Locale>::value&&
-                            detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
-inline auto format(const Locale& loc, const S& fmt, T&&... args)
+          FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
+inline auto format(locale_ref loc, const S& fmt, T&&... args)
     -> std::basic_string<Char> {
   return vformat(loc, detail::to_string_view(fmt),
                  fmt::make_format_args<buffered_context<Char>>(args...));
@@ -227,27 +223,24 @@ inline auto format_to(OutputIt out, const S& fmt, T&&... args) -> OutputIt {
                     fmt::make_format_args<buffered_context<Char>>(args...));
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename S, typename OutputIt, typename... Args,
+template <typename S, typename OutputIt, typename... Args,
           typename Char = detail::format_string_char_t<S>,
           FMT_ENABLE_IF(detail::is_output_iterator<OutputIt, Char>::value&&
-                            detail::is_locale<Locale>::value&&
-                                detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
-inline auto vformat_to(OutputIt out, const Locale& loc, const S& fmt,
+                            detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value)>
+inline auto vformat_to(OutputIt out, locale_ref loc, const S& fmt,
                        typename detail::vformat_args<Char>::type args)
     -> OutputIt {
   auto&& buf = detail::get_buffer<Char>(out);
-  vformat_to(buf, detail::to_string_view(fmt), args, detail::locale_ref(loc));
+  vformat_to(buf, detail::to_string_view(fmt), args, loc);
   return detail::get_iterator(buf, out);
 }
 
-template <typename Locale, typename OutputIt, typename S, typename... T,
+template <typename OutputIt, typename S, typename... T,
           typename Char = detail::format_string_char_t<S>,
           bool enable = detail::is_output_iterator<OutputIt, Char>::value &&
-                        detail::is_locale<Locale>::value &&
                         detail::is_exotic_char<Char>::value>
-inline auto format_to(OutputIt out, const Locale& loc, const S& fmt,
-                      T&&... args) ->
-    typename std::enable_if<enable, OutputIt>::type {
+inline auto format_to(OutputIt out, locale_ref loc, const S& fmt, T&&... args)
+    -> typename std::enable_if<enable, OutputIt>::type {
   return vformat_to(out, loc, detail::to_string_view(fmt),
                     fmt::make_format_args<buffered_context<Char>>(args...));
 }
diff --git a/src/format.cc b/src/format.cc
index 3ccd8068..50e267c5 100644
--- a/src/format.cc
+++ b/src/format.cc
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@
 #include "fmt/format-inl.h"
 
 FMT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
+
+#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
+template FMT_API locale_ref::locale_ref(const std::locale& loc);
+template FMT_API auto locale_ref::get<std::locale>() const -> std::locale;
+#endif
+
 namespace detail {
 
 template FMT_API auto dragonbox::to_decimal(float x) noexcept
@@ -15,12 +21,6 @@ template FMT_API auto dragonbox::to_decimal(float x) noexcept
 template FMT_API auto dragonbox::to_decimal(double x) noexcept
     -> dragonbox::decimal_fp<double>;
 
-#if FMT_USE_LOCALE
-// DEPRECATED! locale_ref in the detail namespace
-template FMT_API locale_ref::locale_ref(const std::locale& loc);
-template FMT_API auto locale_ref::get<std::locale>() const -> std::locale;
-#endif
-
 // Explicit instantiations for char.
 
 template FMT_API auto thousands_sep_impl(locale_ref)
diff --git a/test/xchar-test.cc b/test/xchar-test.cc
index a823ca06..b0646da0 100644
--- a/test/xchar-test.cc
+++ b/test/xchar-test.cc
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ TEST(locale_test, int_formatter) {
   f.parse(parse_ctx);
   auto buf = fmt::memory_buffer();
   fmt::basic_format_context<fmt::appender, char> format_ctx(
-      fmt::appender(buf), {}, fmt::detail::locale_ref(loc));
+      fmt::appender(buf), {}, fmt::locale_ref(loc));
   f.format(12345, format_ctx);
   EXPECT_EQ(fmt::to_string(buf), "12,345");
 }