diff --git a/kitty/core_text.c b/kitty/core_text.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 25888e0e4..000000000
--- a/kitty/core_text.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,76 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * core_text.c
- * Copyright (C) 2017 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
- *
- * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
- */
-
-#include "data-types.h"
-#include <structmember.h>
-#include <CoreText/CTFont.h>
-
-
-typedef struct {
-    PyObject_HEAD
-
-    unsigned int units_per_EM;
-    int ascender, descender, height, max_advance_width, max_advance_height, underline_position, underline_thickness;
-} Face;
-
-
-static PyObject*
-new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject UNUSED *args, PyObject UNUSED *kwds) {
-    Face *self;
-    self = (Face *)type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
-    return (PyObject*)self;
-}
-
-
-static void
-dealloc(Face* self) {
-    Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
-}
-
-
-// Boilerplate {{{
-
-static PyMemberDef members[] = {
-#define MEM(name, type) {#name, type, offsetof(Face, name), READONLY, #name}
-    MEM(units_per_EM, T_UINT),
-    MEM(ascender, T_INT),
-    MEM(descender, T_INT),
-    MEM(height, T_INT),
-    MEM(max_advance_width, T_INT),
-    MEM(max_advance_height, T_INT),
-    MEM(underline_position, T_INT),
-    MEM(underline_thickness, T_INT),
-    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
-};
-
-static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
-    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
-};
-
-
-PyTypeObject Face_Type = {
-    PyVarObject_HEAD_INIT(NULL, 0)
-    .tp_name = "fast_data_types.CTFace",
-    .tp_basicsize = sizeof(Face),
-    .tp_dealloc = (destructor)dealloc, 
-    .tp_flags = Py_TPFLAGS_DEFAULT,        
-    .tp_doc = "CoreText Font face",
-    .tp_methods = methods,
-    .tp_members = members,
-    .tp_new = new,                
-};
-
-
-int 
-init_CoreText(PyObject *module) {
-    if (PyType_Ready(&Face_Type) < 0) return 0;
-    if (PyModule_AddObject(module, "CTFace", (PyObject *)&Face_Type) != 0) return 0;
-    return 1;
-}
-
-
-// }}}
diff --git a/kitty/core_text.m b/kitty/core_text.m
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..53292b37f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/core_text.m
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+/*
+ * core_text.c
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
+ */
+
+#include "data-types.h"
+#include <structmember.h>
+#import <CoreText/CTFont.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSString.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSDictionary.h>
+
+typedef struct {
+    PyObject_HEAD
+
+    unsigned int units_per_em;
+    float ascent, descent, leading, underline_position, underline_thickness;
+    CTFontRef font;
+} Face;
+
+
+static PyObject*
+new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject UNUSED *kwds) {
+    Face *self;
+    int bold, italic;
+    char *cfamily;
+    float point_sz;
+    if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "sppf", &cfamily, &bold, &italic, &point_sz)) return NULL;
+    NSString *family = [[NSString alloc] initWithCString:cfamily encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
+    if (family == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
+    self = (Face *)type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
+    if (self) {
+        CTFontSymbolicTraits symbolic_traits = (bold ? kCTFontBoldTrait : 0) | (italic ? kCTFontItalicTrait : 0);
+        NSDictionary *font_traits = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:symbolic_traits] forKey:(NSString *)kCTFontSymbolicTrait];
+        NSDictionary *font_attributes = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:family, kCTFontFamilyNameAttribute, font_traits, kCTFontTraitsAttribute, nil];
+        CTFontDescriptorRef descriptor = CTFontDescriptorCreateWithAttributes((CFDictionaryRef)font_attributes);
+        if (descriptor) {
+            self->font = CTFontCreateWithFontDescriptor(descriptor, point_sz, NULL);
+            CFRelease(descriptor);
+            if (!self->font) { Py_CLEAR(self); PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "Failed to create CTFont object"); }
+            else {
+                self->units_per_em = CTFontGetUnitsPerEm(self->font);
+                self->ascent = CTFontGetAscent(self->font);
+                self->descent = CTFontGetDescent(self->font);
+                self->leading = CTFontGetLeading(self->font);
+                self->underline_position = CTFontGetUnderlinePosition(self->font);
+                self->underline_thickness = CTFontGetUnderlineThickness(self->font);
+            }
+        } else {
+            Py_CLEAR(self);
+            PyErr_NoMemory();
+        }
+    }
+    [ family release ];
+    return (PyObject*)self;
+}
+
+
+static void
+dealloc(Face* self) {
+    if (self->font) CFRelease(self->font);
+    Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
+}
+
+
+// Boilerplate {{{
+
+static PyMemberDef members[] = {
+#define MEM(name, type) {#name, type, offsetof(Face, name), READONLY, #name}
+    MEM(units_per_em, T_UINT),
+    MEM(ascent, T_FLOAT),
+    MEM(descent, T_FLOAT),
+    MEM(leading, T_FLOAT),
+    MEM(underline_position, T_FLOAT),
+    MEM(underline_thickness, T_FLOAT),
+    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
+};
+
+static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
+    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
+};
+
+
+PyTypeObject Face_Type = {
+    PyVarObject_HEAD_INIT(NULL, 0)
+    .tp_name = "fast_data_types.CTFace",
+    .tp_basicsize = sizeof(Face),
+    .tp_dealloc = (destructor)dealloc, 
+    .tp_flags = Py_TPFLAGS_DEFAULT,        
+    .tp_doc = "CoreText Font face",
+    .tp_methods = methods,
+    .tp_members = members,
+    .tp_new = new,                
+};
+
+
+int 
+init_CoreText(PyObject *module) {
+    if (PyType_Ready(&Face_Type) < 0) return 0;
+    if (PyModule_AddObject(module, "CTFace", (PyObject *)&Face_Type) != 0) return 0;
+    return 1;
+}
+
+
+// }}}
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6e1cfccdf..d98c9d26f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -169,9 +169,9 @@ def option_parser():
 def find_c_files():
     ans = []
     d = os.path.join(base, 'kitty')
-    exclude = {'freetype.c'} if isosx else {'core_text.c'}
+    exclude = {'freetype.c'} if isosx else {'core_text.m'}
     for x in os.listdir(d):
-        if x.endswith('.c') and os.path.basename(x) not in exclude:
+        if (x.endswith('.c') or x.endswith('.m')) and os.path.basename(x) not in exclude:
             ans.append(os.path.join('kitty', x))
     ans.sort(key=lambda x: os.path.getmtime(os.path.join(base, x)), reverse=True)
     ans.append('kitty/parser_dump.c')