diff --git a/sqlite-vec.c b/sqlite-vec.c
index 3cc802f0..435b89e7 100644
--- a/sqlite-vec.c
+++ b/sqlite-vec.c
@@ -112,6 +112,95 @@ typedef size_t usize;
 #define countof(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0]))
 #define min(a, b) (((a) <= (b)) ? (a) : (b))
 
+// Locale-independent strtod implementation for parsing JSON floats
+// Fixes issue #241: strtod is locale-dependent and breaks with non-C locales
+//
+// This custom parser always uses '.' as decimal separator regardless of locale.
+// Simpler and more portable than strtod_l, with no thread-safety issues.
+static double strtod_c(const char *str, char **endptr) {
+  const char *p = str;
+  double result = 0.0;
+  int sign = 1;
+  int has_digits = 0;
+
+  // Skip leading whitespace
+  while (*p == ' ' || *p == '\t' || *p == '\n' || *p == '\r') {
+    p++;
+  }
+
+  // Handle optional sign
+  if (*p == '-') {
+    sign = -1;
+    p++;
+  } else if (*p == '+') {
+    p++;
+  }
+
+  // Parse integer part
+  while (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') {
+    result = result * 10.0 + (*p - '0');
+    p++;
+    has_digits = 1;
+  }
+
+  // Parse fractional part
+  if (*p == '.') {
+    double fraction = 0.0;
+    double divisor = 1.0;
+    p++;
+
+    while (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') {
+      fraction = fraction * 10.0 + (*p - '0');
+      divisor *= 10.0;
+      p++;
+      has_digits = 1;
+    }
+
+    result += fraction / divisor;
+  }
+
+  // Parse exponent
+  if ((*p == 'e' || *p == 'E') && has_digits) {
+    int exp_sign = 1;
+    int exponent = 0;
+    p++;
+
+    if (*p == '-') {
+      exp_sign = -1;
+      p++;
+    } else if (*p == '+') {
+      p++;
+    }
+
+    while (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9') {
+      exponent = exponent * 10 + (*p - '0');
+      p++;
+    }
+
+    // Apply exponent using pow() for accuracy
+    if (exponent > 0) {
+      double exp_mult = pow(10.0, (double)exponent);
+      if (exp_sign == 1) {
+        result *= exp_mult;
+      } else {
+        result /= exp_mult;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Set end pointer
+  if (endptr) {
+    *endptr = (char *)(has_digits ? p : str);
+  }
+
+  // Check for overflow/underflow
+  if (result == HUGE_VAL || result == -HUGE_VAL) {
+    errno = ERANGE;
+  }
+
+  return sign * result;
+}
+
 enum VectorElementType {
   // clang-format off
   SQLITE_VEC_ELEMENT_TYPE_FLOAT32 = 223 + 0,
@@ -751,7 +840,7 @@ static int fvec_from_value(sqlite3_value *value, f32 **vector,
       char *endptr;
 
       errno = 0;
-      double result = strtod(ptr, &endptr);
+      double result = strtod_c(ptr, &endptr);
       if ((errno != 0 && result == 0) // some interval error?
           || (errno == ERANGE &&
               (result == HUGE_VAL || result == -HUGE_VAL)) // too big / smalls
diff --git a/tests/test-loadable.py b/tests/test-loadable.py
index a8058c9e..eaffae12 100644
--- a/tests/test-loadable.py
+++ b/tests/test-loadable.py
@@ -951,6 +951,54 @@ def test_vec0_inserts():
     db.execute("insert into txt_pk(txt_id, aaa) values ('b', '[2,2,2,2]')")
 
 
+def test_vec0_locale_independent():
+    """Test that JSON float parsing is locale-independent (issue #241)"""
+    import locale
+
+    db = connect(EXT_PATH)
+    db.execute("create virtual table v using vec0(embedding float[3])")
+
+    # Test with C locale first (baseline)
+    db.execute("insert into v(rowid, embedding) values (1, '[0.1, 0.2, 0.3]')")
+
+    # Try to set a non-C locale that uses comma as decimal separator
+    # Common locales: fr_FR, de_DE, it_IT, es_ES, pt_BR, etc.
+    test_locales = ['fr_FR.UTF-8', 'de_DE.UTF-8', 'it_IT.UTF-8', 'C.UTF-8']
+    locale_set = False
+    original_locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC)
+
+    for test_locale in test_locales:
+        try:
+            locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC, test_locale)
+            locale_set = True
+            break
+        except locale.Error:
+            continue
+
+    try:
+        # Even with non-C locale, JSON parsing should work (using dot as decimal separator)
+        # Before the fix, this would fail in French/German/etc locales
+        db.execute("insert into v(rowid, embedding) values (2, '[0.4, 0.5, 0.6]')")
+
+        # Verify the data was inserted correctly
+        result = db.execute("select embedding from v where rowid = 2").fetchone()
+        expected = _f32([0.4, 0.5, 0.6])
+        assert result[0] == expected, f"Expected {expected}, got {result[0]}"
+
+        # Also verify with different decimal values
+        db.execute("insert into v(rowid, embedding) values (3, '[1.23, 4.56, 7.89]')")
+        result = db.execute("select embedding from v where rowid = 3").fetchone()
+        expected = _f32([1.23, 4.56, 7.89])
+        assert result[0] == expected, f"Expected {expected}, got {result[0]}"
+
+    finally:
+        # Restore original locale
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC, original_locale)
+
+    # If we couldn't set a non-C locale, the test still passes (baseline check)
+    # but we didn't really test the locale-independence
+
+
 def test_vec0_insert_errors2():
     db = connect(EXT_PATH)
     db.execute("create virtual table t1 using vec0(aaa float[4], chunk_size=8)")