diff --git a/kitty/core_text.m b/kitty/core_text.m
index f8dfe9696..7b374bd95 100644
--- a/kitty/core_text.m
+++ b/kitty/core_text.m
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ create_fallback_face(PyObject *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool UNUSED bold, bool
     if (emoji_presentation) new_font = CTFontCreateWithName((CFStringRef)@"AppleColorEmoji", self->scaled_point_sz, NULL);
     else {
         char text[256] = {0};
-        cell_as_utf8(cell, true, text, ' ');
+        cell_as_utf8_for_fallback(cell, text);
         CFStringRef str = CFStringCreateWithCString(NULL, text, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
         if (str == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
         new_font = find_substitute_face(str, self->ct_font);
diff --git a/kitty/fontconfig.c b/kitty/fontconfig.c
index 711d40d29..42fc25dab 100644
--- a/kitty/fontconfig.c
+++ b/kitty/fontconfig.c
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ create_fallback_face(PyObject UNUSED *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool
     if (!emoji_presentation && bold) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_WEIGHT, FC_WEIGHT_BOLD, "weight"); }
     if (!emoji_presentation && italic) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_SLANT, FC_SLANT_ITALIC, "slant"); }
     if (emoji_presentation) { AP(FcPatternAddBool, FC_COLOR, true, "color"); }
-    size_t num = cell_as_unicode(cell, true, char_buf, ' ');
+    size_t num = cell_as_unicode_for_fallback(cell, char_buf);
     add_charset(pat, num);
     PyObject *d = _fc_match(pat);
     if (d) { ans = face_from_descriptor(d, fg); Py_CLEAR(d); }
diff --git a/kitty/fonts.c b/kitty/fonts.c
index 9cef1e509..97354503e 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.c
+++ b/kitty/fonts.c
@@ -545,6 +545,7 @@ START_ALLOW_CASE_RANGE
                     ans = fg->bi_font_idx; break;
             }
             if (ans < 0) ans = fg->medium_font_idx;
+            printf("has_emoji_presentation: %d has_cell_text: %d\n", has_emoji_presentation(cpu_cell, gpu_cell), has_cell_text(fg->fonts + ans, cpu_cell));
             if (!has_emoji_presentation(cpu_cell, gpu_cell) && has_cell_text(fg->fonts + ans, cpu_cell)) return ans;
             return fallback_font(fg, cpu_cell, gpu_cell);
     }
diff --git a/kitty/line.c b/kitty/line.c
index 45446849a..eb59a8750 100644
--- a/kitty/line.c
+++ b/kitty/line.c
@@ -183,6 +183,16 @@ cell_as_unicode(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, Py_UCS4 *buf, char_type zero_cha
     return n;
 }
 
+size_t
+cell_as_unicode_for_fallback(CPUCell *cell, Py_UCS4 *buf) {
+    size_t n = 1;
+    buf[0] = cell->ch ? cell->ch : ' ';
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraysz(cell->cc_idx) && cell->cc_idx[i]; i++) {
+        if (cell->cc_idx[i] != VS15 && cell->cc_idx[i] != VS16) buf[n++] = codepoint_for_mark(cell->cc_idx[i]);
+    }
+    return n;
+}
+
 size_t
 cell_as_utf8(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, char *buf, char_type zero_char) {
     size_t n = encode_utf8(cell->ch ? cell->ch : zero_char, buf);
@@ -193,6 +203,19 @@ cell_as_utf8(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, char *buf, char_type zero_char) {
     return n;
 }
 
+size_t
+cell_as_utf8_for_fallback(CPUCell *cell, char *buf) {
+    size_t n = encode_utf8(cell->ch ? cell->ch : ' ', buf);
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraysz(cell->cc_idx) && cell->cc_idx[i]; i++) {
+        if (cell->cc_idx[i] != VS15 && cell->cc_idx[i] != VS16) {
+            n += encode_utf8(codepoint_for_mark(cell->cc_idx[i]), buf + n);
+        }
+    }
+    buf[n] = 0;
+    return n;
+}
+
+
 
 PyObject*
 unicode_in_range(Line *self, index_type start, index_type limit, bool include_cc, char leading_char) {
diff --git a/kitty/lineops.h b/kitty/lineops.h
index dde210062..14f070506 100644
--- a/kitty/lineops.h
+++ b/kitty/lineops.h
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ index_type line_url_end_at(Line *self, index_type x, bool, char_type);
 index_type line_as_ansi(Line *self, Py_UCS4 *buf, index_type buflen, bool*);
 unsigned int line_length(Line *self);
 size_t cell_as_unicode(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, Py_UCS4 *buf, char_type);
+size_t cell_as_unicode_for_fallback(CPUCell *cell, Py_UCS4 *buf);
 size_t cell_as_utf8(CPUCell *cell, bool include_cc, char *buf, char_type);
+size_t cell_as_utf8_for_fallback(CPUCell *cell, char *buf);
 PyObject* unicode_in_range(Line *self, index_type start, index_type limit, bool include_cc, char leading_char);
 PyObject* line_as_unicode(Line *);