diff --git a/kitty/fonts.c b/kitty/fonts.c
index 89acfdd79..125ecac4a 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.c
+++ b/kitty/fonts.c
@@ -837,7 +837,7 @@ effective_scale(RunFont rf) {
 
 static float
 scaled_cell_dimensions(RunFont rf, unsigned *width, unsigned *height) {
-    float frac = effective_scale(rf);
+    float frac = MAX(effective_scale(rf), 4.0f / *width);
     *width = (unsigned)ceilf(frac * *width);
     *height = (unsigned)ceilf(frac * *height);
     return frac;