diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index c0e5f6a9e..d5254c80f 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ Changelog
 - Fix passing input via the pipe action to a program without a window not
   working.
 
+- Linux: Fix a regression in the previous release that caused automatic
+  selection of fonts when using aliases such as "monospace" to not work
+  (:iss:`1209`)
+
 0.13.0 [2018-12-05]
 ------------------------------
 
diff --git a/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py b/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
index 5ef2912be..c6cbf3d35 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
+++ b/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@ def find_best_match(family, bold=False, italic=False, monospaced=True):
         if val:
             candidates = font_map[map_key].get(family_name_to_key(val))
             if candidates:
+                if len(candidates) == 1:
+                    # happens if the family name is an alias, so we search with
+                    # the actual family name to see if we can find all the
+                    # fonts in the family.
+                    full_name_candidates = font_map['family_map'].get(family_name_to_key(candidates[0]['family']))
+                    if full_name_candidates and len(full_name_candidates) > 1:
+                        candidates = full_name_candidates
                 candidates.sort(key=score)
                 return candidates[0]