diff --git a/kitty/core_text.c b/kitty/core_text.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..25888e0e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/core_text.c
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*
+ * 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/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index bcfada2d7..4b886e702 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -63,11 +63,15 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
         if (!init_SpriteMap(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_ChangeTracker(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_Screen(m)) return NULL;
-        if (!init_freetype_library(m)) return NULL;
-        if (!init_Face(m)) return NULL;
         if (!add_module_gl_constants(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_glfw(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_Window(m)) return NULL;
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+        if (!init_CoreText(m)) return NULL;
+#else
+        if (!init_Face(m)) return NULL;
+        if (!init_freetype_library(m)) return NULL;
+#endif
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "BOLD", BOLD_SHIFT);
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "ITALIC", ITALIC_SHIFT);
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "REVERSE", REVERSE_SHIFT);
diff --git a/kitty/data-types.h b/kitty/data-types.h
index 29cc05a45..1bf0bfd4d 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.h
+++ b/kitty/data-types.h
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ int init_ChangeTracker(PyObject *);
 int init_Screen(PyObject *);
 int init_Face(PyObject *);
 int init_Window(PyObject *);
+int init_CoreText(PyObject *);
 PyObject* create_256_color_table();
 PyObject* read_bytes_dump(PyObject UNUSED *, PyObject *);
 PyObject* read_bytes(PyObject UNUSED *, PyObject *);
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b956b39be..6e1cfccdf 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ def init_env(debug=False, asan=False):
         if major < 2:
             raise SystemExit('glew >= 2.0.0 is required, found version: ' + ver)
     cflags.extend(pkg_config('glew', '--cflags-only-I'))
-    cflags.extend(pkg_config('freetype2', '--cflags-only-I'))
+    if isosx:
+        font_libs = ['-framework', 'CoreText', '-framework', 'CoreGraphics']
+    else:
+        cflags.extend(pkg_config('freetype2', '--cflags-only-I'))
+        font_libs = pkg_config('freetype2', '--libs')
     cflags.extend(pkg_config('glfw3', '--cflags-only-I'))
     ldflags.append('-shared')
     pylib = get_python_flags(cflags)
@@ -109,7 +113,7 @@ def init_env(debug=False, asan=False):
     else:
         glfw_ldflags = pkg_config('glfw3', '--libs')
     ldpaths = pylib + \
-        pkg_config('glew', '--libs') + pkg_config('freetype2', '--libs') + glfw_ldflags
+        pkg_config('glew', '--libs') + font_libs + glfw_ldflags
 
     try:
         os.mkdir(build_dir)
@@ -165,8 +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'}
     for x in os.listdir(d):
-        if x.endswith('.c'):
+        if x.endswith('.c') 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')