diff --git a/src/fontengine.cpp b/src/fontengine.cpp
index f73f47ff7..e6564854d 100644
--- a/src/fontengine.cpp
+++ b/src/fontengine.cpp
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ void FontEngine::initSimpleFont(unsigned int basesize, FontMode mode)
 	}
 
 	if (font != NULL) {
+		font->grab();
 		m_font_cache[mode][basesize] = font;
 	}
 }