After adding StereoTool VST plugin to filters on a source, going into OBS Settings presents 'Could not find locale.ini path' then crashes

Operating System Info

Windows 10

Other OS

No response

OBS Studio Version

27.2.4

OBS Studio Version (Other)

No response

OBS Studio Log URL

removed

OBS Studio Crash Log URL

removed

Expected Behavior

Not to crash! And show OBS Settings

Current Behavior

OBS Crashes after pressing 'OK' to the Error dialog

Steps to Reproduce

1. Obtain the StereoTool VST Plugin (Demo version is fine) and place in appropriate directory.
2. Add a media source to use the VST plugin with
3. Add VST 2.x Plug-in and then select the StereoTool VST Plugin to the Audio/Video Filters of the added media source
4. Open the Plug-in Interface
5. Within the StereoTool interface, under 'Configuration' options, click the 'Preset' button, under Generic Presets load the top one (Mathijs Vos & Hans ....."
6. Click Save - save all settings
7. Click Load, load all settings and select the file you just saved in step 6.
8. Close StereoTool interface
9. Open OBS Settings - it will show the 'Could not find locale.ini path' error and upon pressing OK, crash.

Anything else we should know?

This only seems to happen once - until you change StereoTool settings or load a(nother) preset.

Start by reproducing the Windows 10 crash through the VST 2.x Plug-in in the source's Audio/Video Filters, then open OBS Settings after saving and loading a StereoTool preset. Investigate the 'Could not find locale.ini path' error and verify that the Settings window opens without a crash.