diff --git a/kitty/freetype.c b/kitty/freetype.c
index 45f2ce9ba..31d2b111d 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype.c
@@ -278,8 +278,12 @@ calc_cell_width(Face *self) {
     unsigned int ans = 0;
     for (char_type i = 32; i < 128; i++) {
         int glyph_index = FT_Get_Char_Index(self->face, i);
-        if (load_glyph(self, glyph_index, FT_LOAD_DEFAULT)) {
-            ans = MAX(ans, (unsigned long)ceilf((float)self->face->glyph->metrics.horiAdvance / 64.f));
+        // We actually render the bitmap and get its width even though this is very slow, because
+        // there are fonts for which the horizontal advance is incorrect, see https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/issues/352#issuecomment-376262576
+        if (load_glyph(self, glyph_index, FT_LOAD_RENDER)) {
+            unsigned int horizontal_advance = (unsigned int)ceilf((float)self->face->glyph->metrics.horiAdvance / 64.f);
+            ans = MAX(ans, self->face->glyph->bitmap.width);
+            ans = MAX(ans, horizontal_advance);
         }
     }
     return ans;