diff --git a/gnumeric.spec b/gnumeric.spec
index dcc9774..ac8cdd2 100644
--- a/gnumeric.spec
+++ b/gnumeric.spec
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 Name:           gnumeric
 Version:        1.10.16
 Release:        1
+# FIXME: check if translation-update-upstream support can be re-enabled, see bnc#703739 (last checked: 2011-07-04)
 Summary:        Spreadsheet Application
 License:        GPLv2+
 Url:            http://www.gnumeric.org/
@@ -94,8 +95,9 @@ Gnumeric is part of the GNOME project.
 %lang_package
 %prep
 %setup -q
-translation-update-upstream
-translation-update-upstream po-functions gnumeric-functions
+# Disable translation-update-upstream because it makes the build fail, see bnc#703739
+#translation-update-upstream
+#translation-update-upstream po-functions gnumeric-functions
 # translation-update-upstream provides incomplete upstream translations
 # from the upstream git. Remove them until upstream provides a fix. See
 # po/LINGUAS for more.