diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dd1fd9d5f..08737d2bc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 1. [](#new)
     * Added support to get image size for SVG vector images [#3533](https://github.com/getgrav/grav/pull/3533)
+2. [](#bugfix)
+    * Fixed `'mbstring' extension is not loaded` error, use Polyfill instead [#3504](https://github.com/getgrav/grav/pull/3504)
 
 # v1.7.30
 ## 02/07/2022
diff --git a/bin/gpm b/bin/gpm
index 9e58706f6..12d0c3d36 100755
--- a/bin/gpm
+++ b/bin/gpm
@@ -25,14 +25,10 @@ if (!file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')){
 
 $autoload = require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-if (!ini_get('date.timezone')) {
-    date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
-}
+// Set timezone to default, falls back to system if php.ini not set
+date_default_timezone_set(@date_default_timezone_get());
 
 // Set internal encoding.
-if (!\extension_loaded('mbstring')) {
-    die("'mbstring' extension is not loaded.  This is required for Grav to run correctly");
-}
 @ini_set('default_charset', 'UTF-8');
 mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 
diff --git a/bin/grav b/bin/grav
index cc925c394..1bcba715a 100755
--- a/bin/grav
+++ b/bin/grav
@@ -25,14 +25,10 @@ if (!file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')){
 
 $autoload = require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-if (!ini_get('date.timezone')) {
-    date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
-}
+// Set timezone to default, falls back to system if php.ini not set
+date_default_timezone_set(@date_default_timezone_get());
 
 // Set internal encoding.
-if (!\extension_loaded('mbstring')) {
-    die("'mbstring' extension is not loaded.  This is required for Grav to run correctly");
-}
 @ini_set('default_charset', 'UTF-8');
 mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 
diff --git a/bin/plugin b/bin/plugin
index 3a784af57..4a3683858 100755
--- a/bin/plugin
+++ b/bin/plugin
@@ -25,14 +25,10 @@ if (!file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')){
 
 $autoload = require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
-if (!ini_get('date.timezone')) {
-    date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
-}
+// Set timezone to default, falls back to system if php.ini not set
+date_default_timezone_set(@date_default_timezone_get());
 
 // Set internal encoding.
-if (!\extension_loaded('mbstring')) {
-    die("'mbstring' extension is not loaded.  This is required for Grav to run correctly");
-}
 @ini_set('default_charset', 'UTF-8');
 mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 3e308312f..5393b8cff 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -20,16 +20,6 @@ if (PHP_SAPI === 'cli-server') {
     }
 }
 
-// Set timezone to default, falls back to system if php.ini not set
-date_default_timezone_set(@date_default_timezone_get());
-
-// Set internal encoding.
-if (!\extension_loaded('mbstring')) {
-    die("'mbstring' extension is not loaded.  This is required for Grav to run correctly");
-}
-@ini_set('default_charset', 'UTF-8');
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 // Ensure vendor libraries exist
 $autoload = __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
 if (!is_file($autoload)) {
@@ -39,15 +29,18 @@ if (!is_file($autoload)) {
 // Register the auto-loader.
 $loader = require $autoload;
 
+// Set timezone to default, falls back to system if php.ini not set
+date_default_timezone_set(@date_default_timezone_get());
+
+// Set internal encoding.
+@ini_set('default_charset', 'UTF-8');
+mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
+
 use Grav\Common\Grav;
 use RocketTheme\Toolbox\Event\Event;
 
 // Get the Grav instance
-$grav = Grav::instance(
-    array(
-        'loader' => $loader
-    )
-);
+$grav = Grav::instance(array('loader' => $loader));
 
 // Process the page
 try {