diff --git a/kitty/core_text.m b/kitty/core_text.m
index 5057fc225..4ddbcbe98 100644
--- a/kitty/core_text.m
+++ b/kitty/core_text.m
@@ -134,7 +134,12 @@ cell_size(Face *self) {
             if (w > width) width = w; 
         }
     }
-    return Py_BuildValue("I", width);  
+    // See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5511830/how-does-line-spacing-work-in-core-text-and-why-is-it-different-from-nslayoutm
+    CGFloat leading = MAX(0, self->leading);
+    leading = floor(leading + 0.5);
+    CGFloat line_height = floor(self->ascent + 0.5) + floor(self->descent + 0.5) + leading;
+    CGFloat ascender_delta = (leading > 0) ? 0 : floor(0.2 * line_height + 0.5);
+    return Py_BuildValue("II", width, (unsigned int)(line_height + ascender_delta));  
 #undef count
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/fonts/core_text.py b/kitty/fonts/core_text.py
index c3751a3b9..7003acfb9 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts/core_text.py
+++ b/kitty/fonts/core_text.py
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ def set_font_family(family, size_in_pts, ignore_dpi_failure=False):
         for italic in (False, True):
             main_font[(bold, italic)] = Face(family, bold, italic, True, size_in_pts, dpi)
     mf = main_font[(False, False)]
-    cell_width = mf.cell_size()
-    cell_height = ceil_int(mf.ascent + mf.descent)
+    cell_width, cell_height = mf.cell_size()
     CellTexture = ctypes.c_ubyte * (cell_width * cell_height)
     WideCellTexture = ctypes.c_ubyte * (2 * cell_width * cell_height)
     baseline = int(round(mf.ascent))