diff --git a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
index 998342fdf..b2ffb6e86 100644
--- a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
+++ b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ class FontConfigPattern(TypedDict):
     postscript_name: str
     style: str
     spacing: str
-    fontfeatures: str
+    fontfeatures: List[str]
     weight: int
     width: int
     slant: int
diff --git a/kitty/fontconfig.c b/kitty/fontconfig.c
index 7b210d8fc..9c95b4827 100644
--- a/kitty/fontconfig.c
+++ b/kitty/fontconfig.c
@@ -37,7 +37,21 @@ pattern_as_dict(FcPattern *pat) {
         if (PyDict_SetItemString(ans, #name, p) != 0) { Py_CLEAR(p); Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; } \
         Py_CLEAR(p); \
     }}
+
+#define L(type, get, which, conv, name) { \
+    type out; PyObject *p; int n = 0; \
+    PyObject *l = PyList_New(0); \
+    while (get(pat, which, n, &out) == FcResultMatch) { \
+        p = conv(out); if (p == NULL) { Py_CLEAR(l); Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; } \
+        if (PyList_Append(l, p) != 0) { Py_CLEAR(p); Py_CLEAR(l); Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; } \
+        Py_CLEAR(p); \
+        n++; \
+    } \
+    if (PyDict_SetItemString(ans, #name, l) != 0) { Py_CLEAR(l); Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; } \
+    Py_CLEAR(l); \
+}
 #define S(which, key) G(FcChar8*, FcPatternGetString, which, PS, key)
+#define LS(which, key) L(FcChar8*, FcPatternGetString, which, PS, key)
 #define I(which, key) G(int, FcPatternGetInteger, which, PyLong_FromLong, key)
 #define B(which, key) G(int, FcPatternGetBool, which, pybool, key)
 #define E(which, key, conv) G(int, FcPatternGetInteger, which, conv, key)
@@ -46,7 +60,7 @@ pattern_as_dict(FcPattern *pat) {
     S(FC_STYLE, style);
     S(FC_FULLNAME, full_name);
     S(FC_POSTSCRIPT_NAME, postscript_name);
-    S(FC_FONT_FEATURES, fontfeatures);
+    LS(FC_FONT_FEATURES, fontfeatures);
     I(FC_WEIGHT, weight);
     I(FC_WIDTH, width)
     I(FC_SLANT, slant);
diff --git a/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py b/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
index 44cf7b369..88c323788 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
+++ b/kitty/fonts/fontconfig.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def find_font_features(postscript_name: str) -> Tuple[str, ...]:
         return tuple()
 
     features = []
-    for feat in pat['fontfeatures'].split():
+    for feat in pat['fontfeatures']:
         try:
             parsed = parse_font_feature(feat)
         except ValueError: