diff --git a/kitty/fontconfig.c b/kitty/fontconfig.c
index e931d3d46..5a8689219 100644
--- a/kitty/fontconfig.c
+++ b/kitty/fontconfig.c
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ end:
     return ans;
 }
 
-static Py_UCS4 char_buf[1024];
+static char_type char_buf[1024];
 
 static inline void
 add_charset(FcPattern *pat, size_t num) {
@@ -169,16 +169,10 @@ end:
     if (charset != NULL) FcCharSetDestroy(charset);
 }
 
-bool
-information_for_font_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConfigFace *ans) {
-    memset(ans, 0, sizeof(FontConfigFace));
-    FcPattern *match = NULL;
-    FcPattern *pat = FcPatternCreate();
+static inline bool
+_native_fc_match(FcPattern *pat, FontConfigFace *ans) {
     bool ok = false;
-    if (pat == NULL) { PyErr_NoMemory(); return ok; }
-    if (family && strlen(family) > 0) AP(FcPatternAddString, FC_FAMILY, (const FcChar8*)family, "family");
-    if (bold) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_WEIGHT, FC_WEIGHT_BOLD, "weight"); }
-    if (italic) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_SLANT, FC_SLANT_ITALIC, "slant"); }
+    FcPattern *match = NULL;
     FcResult result;
     FcConfigSubstitute(NULL, pat, FcMatchPattern);
     FcDefaultSubstitute(pat);
@@ -197,6 +191,21 @@ information_for_font_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConf
     ok = true;
 end:
     if (match != NULL) FcPatternDestroy(match);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+
+bool
+information_for_font_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConfigFace *ans) {
+    memset(ans, 0, sizeof(FontConfigFace));
+    FcPattern *pat = FcPatternCreate();
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (pat == NULL) { PyErr_NoMemory(); return ok; }
+    if (family && strlen(family) > 0) AP(FcPatternAddString, FC_FAMILY, (const FcChar8*)family, "family");
+    if (bold) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_WEIGHT, FC_WEIGHT_BOLD, "weight"); }
+    if (italic) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_SLANT, FC_SLANT_ITALIC, "slant"); }
+    ok = _native_fc_match(pat, ans);
+end:
     if (pat != NULL) FcPatternDestroy(pat);
     return ok;
 }
@@ -280,6 +289,23 @@ end:
     return ans;
 }
 
+bool
+fallback_font(char_type ch, const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConfigFace *ans) {
+    memset(ans, 0, sizeof(FontConfigFace));
+    bool ok = false;
+    FcPattern *pat = FcPatternCreate();
+    if (pat == NULL) { PyErr_NoMemory(); return ok; }
+    if (family) AP(FcPatternAddString, FC_FAMILY, (const FcChar8*)family, "family");
+    if (bold) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_WEIGHT, FC_WEIGHT_BOLD, "weight"); }
+    if (italic) { AP(FcPatternAddInteger, FC_SLANT, FC_SLANT_ITALIC, "slant"); }
+    char_buf[0] = ch;
+    add_charset(pat, 1);
+    ok = _native_fc_match(pat, ans);
+end:
+    if (pat != NULL) FcPatternDestroy(pat);
+    return ok;
+}
+
 PyObject*
 create_fallback_face(PyObject UNUSED *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool italic, bool emoji_presentation, FONTS_DATA_HANDLE fg) {
     PyObject *ans = NULL;
diff --git a/kitty/freetype.c b/kitty/freetype.c
index df214847f..c47902679 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype.c
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 #define FT_Bitmap_Init FT_Bitmap_New
 #endif
 
-#include FT_FREETYPE_H
 #include FT_BITMAP_H
 #include FT_TRUETYPE_TABLES_H
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.c b/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.c
index d1565b31a..c03f34b1f 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.c
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ FT_Face main_face = NULL;
 FontConfigFace main_face_information = {0};
 FamilyInformation main_face_family = {0};
 
+static inline FT_UInt
+glyph_id_for_codepoint(FT_Face face, char_type cp) {
+    return FT_Get_Char_Index(face, cp);
+}
 
 static void
 cleanup(void) {
@@ -35,7 +39,7 @@ set_main_face_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic) {
     main_face_family.bold = bold; main_face_family.italic = italic;
 }
 
-static bool
+static inline bool
 ensure_state(void) {
     if (main_face) return false;
     if (!information_for_font_family(main_face_family.name, main_face_family.bold, main_face_family.italic, &main_face_information)) return false;
@@ -45,7 +49,6 @@ ensure_state(void) {
 
 static PyObject*
 path_for_font(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
-    (void)ensure_state;
     const char *family = NULL; int bold = 0, italic = 0;
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "|zpp", &family, &bold, &italic)) return NULL;
     FontConfigFace f;
@@ -55,8 +58,21 @@ path_for_font(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
     return ret;
 }
 
+static PyObject*
+fallback_for_char(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
+    const char *family = NULL; int bold = 0, italic = 0;
+    unsigned int ch;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "I|zpp", &ch, &family, &bold, &italic)) return NULL;
+    FontConfigFace f;
+    if (!fallback_font(ch, family, bold, italic, &f)) return NULL;
+    PyObject *ret = Py_BuildValue("{ss si si si}", "path", f.path, "index", f.index, "hinting", f.hinting, "hintstyle", f.hintstyle);
+    free(f.path);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
     METHODB(path_for_font, METH_VARARGS),
+    METHODB(fallback_for_char, METH_VARARGS),
 
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}        /* Sentinel */
 };
diff --git a/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.h b/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.h
index c8277a29a..4c49eba45 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.h
+++ b/kitty/freetype_render_ui_text.h
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ typedef struct FontConfigFace {
 
 bool information_for_font_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConfigFace *ans);
 FT_Face native_face_from_path(const char *path, int index);
-
+bool fallback_font(char_type ch, const char *family, bool bold, bool italic, FontConfigFace *ans);
 
 void set_main_face_family(const char *family, bool bold, bool italic);