diff --git a/packages/core/src/i18n.test.ts b/packages/core/src/i18n.test.ts
index 5deccfe63..21beca361 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/i18n.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/i18n.test.ts
@@ -189,7 +189,6 @@ describe("I18n", () => {
   it("._ should format message from catalog", () => {
     const messages = {
       Hello: "Salut",
-      "My name is {name}": "Je m'appelle {name}",
     }
 
     const i18n = setupI18n({
@@ -198,15 +197,24 @@ describe("I18n", () => {
     })
 
     expect(i18n._("Hello")).toEqual("Salut")
-    expect(i18n._("My name is {name}", { name: "Fred" })).toEqual(
-      "Je m'appelle Fred"
-    )
+    expect(
+      i18n._({
+        id: "My name is {name}",
+        message: "Je m'appelle {name}",
+        values: { name: "Fred" },
+      })
+    ).toEqual("Je m'appelle Fred")
 
     // alias
     expect(i18n.t("Hello")).toEqual("Salut")
 
     // missing { name }
-    expect(i18n._("My name is {name}")).toEqual("Je m'appelle")
+    expect(
+      i18n._({
+        id: "My name is {name}",
+        message: "Je m'appelle {name}",
+      })
+    ).toEqual("Je m'appelle")
 
     // Untranslated message
     expect(i18n._("Missing message")).toEqual("Missing message")
@@ -239,16 +247,19 @@ describe("I18n", () => {
   })
 
   it("._ allow escaping syntax characters", () => {
-    const messages = {
-      "My ''name'' is '{name}'": "Mi ''nombre'' es '{name}'",
-    }
+    const messages = {}
 
     const i18n = setupI18n({
       locale: "es",
       messages: { es: messages },
     })
 
-    expect(i18n._("My ''name'' is '{name}'")).toEqual("Mi 'nombre' es {name}")
+    expect(
+      i18n._({
+        id: "My ''name'' is '{name}'",
+        message: "Mi ''nombre'' es '{name}'",
+      })
+    ).toEqual("Mi 'nombre' es {name}")
   })
 
   it("._ shouldn't compile messages in production", () => {
@@ -270,6 +281,23 @@ describe("I18n", () => {
     })
   })
 
+  it("._ shouldn't compiled message from catalogs in development", () => {
+    const messages = {
+      Hello: "Salut",
+      "My name is {name}": "Je m'appelle {name}",
+    }
+
+    mockEnv("development", () => {
+      const { setupI18n } = require("@lingui/core")
+      const i18n = setupI18n({
+        locale: "fr",
+        messages: { fr: messages },
+      })
+
+      expect(i18n._("My name is {name}")).toEqual("Je m'appelle {name}")
+    })
+  })
+
   it("._ should emit missing event for missing translation", () => {
     const i18n = setupI18n({
       locale: "en",
diff --git a/packages/core/src/i18n.ts b/packages/core/src/i18n.ts
index 55250958f..38b0acf42 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/i18n.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/i18n.ts
@@ -232,13 +232,16 @@ export class I18n extends EventEmitter<Events> {
       this.emit("missing", { id, locale: this._locale })
     }
 
-    let translation = messageForId || message || id
-
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
-      translation = isString(translation)
-        ? compileMessage(translation)
-        : translation
-    }
+    // To avoid double compilation, skip compilation for `messageForId`, because message from catalog should be already compiled
+    // ref: https://github.com/lingui/js-lingui/issues/1901
+    const translation =
+      messageForId ||
+      (() => {
+        const trans: CompiledMessage | string = message || id
+        return process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production"
+          ? compileMessage(trans)
+          : trans
+      })()
 
     // hack for parsing unicode values inside a string to get parsed in react native environments
     if (isString(translation) && UNICODE_REGEX.test(translation))
diff --git a/packages/react/src/Trans.test.tsx b/packages/react/src/Trans.test.tsx
index a7830a737..0157e844c 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/Trans.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/Trans.test.tsx
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ describe("Trans component", () => {
         "My name is {name}": "Jmenuji se {name}",
         Original: "Původní",
         Updated: "Aktualizovaný",
-        "msg.currency": "{value, number, currency}",
         ID: "Translation",
       },
     },
@@ -290,6 +289,7 @@ describe("Trans component", () => {
     const translation = text(
       <Trans
         id="msg.currency"
+        message="{value, number, currency}"
         values={{ value: 1 }}
         formats={{
           currency: {