diff --git a/kitty/core_text.m b/kitty/core_text.m
index 0df9708a6..385624d61 100644
--- a/kitty/core_text.m
+++ b/kitty/core_text.m
@@ -323,17 +323,8 @@ static CTFontRef nerd_font(CGFloat sz) {
     return _nerd_font_descriptor ? CTFontCreateWithFontDescriptor(_nerd_font_descriptor, sz, NULL) : NULL;
 }
 
-static bool
-font_can_render_cell(CTFontRef font, CPUCell *cell) {
-    char_type ch = cell->ch ? cell->ch : ' ';
-    bool found = true;
-    if (!glyph_id_for_codepoint_ctfont(font, ch)) found = false;
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraysz(cell->cc_idx) && cell->cc_idx[i] && found; i++) {
-        char_type cch = codepoint_for_mark(cell->cc_idx[i]);
-        if (!glyph_id_for_codepoint_ctfont(font, cch)) found = false;
-    }
-    return found;
-}
+static bool ctfont_has_codepoint(const void *ctfont, char_type cp) { return glyph_id_for_codepoint_ctfont(ctfont, cp) > 0; }
+static bool font_can_render_cell(CTFontRef font, CPUCell *cell) { return has_cell_text(ctfont_has_codepoint, font, cell, false); }
 
 static CTFontRef
 manually_search_fallback_fonts(CTFontRef current_font, CPUCell *cell) {
@@ -417,6 +408,8 @@ apply_styles_to_fallback_font(CTFontRef original_fallback_font, bool bold, bool
     return original_fallback_font;
 }
 
+static bool face_has_codepoint(const void *face, char_type ch) { return glyph_id_for_codepoint(face, ch) > 0; }
+
 PyObject*
 create_fallback_face(PyObject *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool italic, bool emoji_presentation, FONTS_DATA_HANDLE fg) {
     CTFace *self = (CTFace*)base_face;
@@ -451,7 +444,7 @@ create_fallback_face(PyObject *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool italic,
     }
     if (!ans) {
         ans = (PyObject*)ct_face(new_font, NULL);
-        if (ans && !has_cell_text(ans, cell, global_state.debug_font_fallback)) {
+        if (ans && !has_cell_text(face_has_codepoint, ans, cell, global_state.debug_font_fallback)) {
             Py_CLEAR(ans);
             Py_RETURN_NONE;
         }
@@ -460,8 +453,8 @@ create_fallback_face(PyObject *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool italic,
 }
 
 unsigned int
-glyph_id_for_codepoint(PyObject *s, char_type ch) {
-    CTFace *self = (CTFace*)s;
+glyph_id_for_codepoint(const PyObject *s, char_type ch) {
+    const CTFace *self = (CTFace*)s;
     return glyph_id_for_codepoint_ctfont(self->ct_font, ch);
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/fontconfig.c b/kitty/fontconfig.c
index 3ac1518e9..152c0bee7 100644
--- a/kitty/fontconfig.c
+++ b/kitty/fontconfig.c
@@ -466,6 +466,8 @@ end:
     return ok;
 }
 
+static bool face_has_codepoint(const void *face, char_type cp) { return glyph_id_for_codepoint(face, cp) > 0; }
+
 PyObject*
 create_fallback_face(PyObject UNUSED *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool italic, bool emoji_presentation, FONTS_DATA_HANDLE fg) {
     ensure_initialized();
@@ -490,7 +492,7 @@ create_fallback_face(PyObject UNUSED *base_face, CPUCell* cell, bool bold, bool
     }
 end:
     if (pat != NULL) FcPatternDestroy(pat);
-    if (ans && !has_cell_text(ans, cell, global_state.debug_font_fallback)) {
+    if (ans && !has_cell_text(face_has_codepoint, ans, cell, global_state.debug_font_fallback)) {
         Py_CLEAR(ans);
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
diff --git a/kitty/fonts.c b/kitty/fonts.c
index 499c765b2..fd218be5e 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.c
+++ b/kitty/fonts.c
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ calc_cell_metrics(FontGroup *fg) {
 }
 
 static bool
-face_has_codepoint(PyObject* face, char_type cp) {
+face_has_codepoint(const PyObject* face, char_type cp) {
     return glyph_id_for_codepoint(face, cp) > 0;
 }
 
@@ -474,8 +474,8 @@ has_emoji_presentation(CPUCell *cpu_cell, GPUCell *gpu_cell) {
 }
 
 bool
-has_cell_text(PyObject *face, const CPUCell *cell, bool do_debug) {
-    if (!face_has_codepoint(face, cell->ch)) goto not_found;
+has_cell_text(bool(*has_codepoint)(const void*, char_type ch), const void* face, const CPUCell *cell, bool do_debug) {
+    if (!has_codepoint(face, cell->ch)) goto not_found;
     char_type combining_chars[arraysz(cell->cc_idx)];
     unsigned num_cc = 0;
     for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraysz(cell->cc_idx) && cell->cc_idx[i]; i++) {
@@ -484,13 +484,13 @@ has_cell_text(PyObject *face, const CPUCell *cell, bool do_debug) {
     }
     if (num_cc == 0) return true;
     if (num_cc == 1) {
-        if (face_has_codepoint(face, combining_chars[0])) return true;
+        if (has_codepoint(face, combining_chars[0])) return true;
         char_type ch = 0;
         if (hb_unicode_compose(hb_unicode_funcs_get_default(), cell->ch, combining_chars[0], &ch) && face_has_codepoint(face, ch)) return true;
         goto not_found;
     }
     for (unsigned i = 0; i < num_cc; i++) {
-        if (!face_has_codepoint(face, combining_chars[i])) goto not_found;
+        if (!has_codepoint(face, combining_chars[i])) goto not_found;
     }
     return true;
 not_found:
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ not_found:
         for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraysz(cell->cc_idx) && cell->cc_idx[i]; i++) {
             debug("U+%x ", codepoint_for_mark(cell->cc_idx[i]));
         }
-        debug("is "); PyObject_Print(face, stderr, 0);
+        debug("is "); PyObject_Print((PyObject*)face, stderr, 0);
         debug(" but it does not actually contain glyphs for that text\n");
     }
     return false;
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ START_ALLOW_CASE_RANGE
                     ans = fg->bi_font_idx; break;
             }
             if (ans < 0) ans = fg->medium_font_idx;
-            if (!*is_emoji_presentation && has_cell_text((fg->fonts + ans)->face, cpu_cell, false)) { *is_main_font = true; return ans; }
+            if (!*is_emoji_presentation && has_cell_text((bool(*)(const void*, char_type))face_has_codepoint, (fg->fonts + ans)->face, cpu_cell, false)) { *is_main_font = true; return ans; }
             return fallback_font(fg, cpu_cell, gpu_cell);
     }
 END_ALLOW_CASE_RANGE
diff --git a/kitty/fonts.h b/kitty/fonts.h
index 665fc8d24..36674ee0d 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.h
+++ b/kitty/fonts.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ typedef struct ParsedFontFeature {
 
 
 // API that font backends need to implement
-unsigned int glyph_id_for_codepoint(PyObject *, char_type);
+unsigned int glyph_id_for_codepoint(const PyObject *, char_type);
 int get_glyph_width(PyObject *, glyph_index);
 bool is_glyph_empty(PyObject *, glyph_index);
 hb_font_t* harfbuzz_font_for_face(PyObject*);
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ FontFeatures* features_for_face(PyObject *);
 bool create_features_for_face(const char* psname, PyObject *features, FontFeatures* output);
 PyObject*
 font_features_as_dict(const FontFeatures *font_features);
-bool has_cell_text(PyObject *face, const CPUCell *c, bool do_debug);
+bool
+has_cell_text(bool(*has_codepoint)(const void*, char_type ch), const void* face, const CPUCell *cell, bool do_debug);
 
 static inline void
 right_shift_canvas(pixel *canvas, size_t width, size_t height, size_t amt) {
diff --git a/kitty/freetype.c b/kitty/freetype.c
index b03f75141..394c0dbec 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype.c
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ cell_metrics(PyObject *s, unsigned int* cell_width, unsigned int* cell_height, u
 }
 
 unsigned int
-glyph_id_for_codepoint(PyObject *s, char_type cp) {
+glyph_id_for_codepoint(const PyObject *s, char_type cp) {
     return FT_Get_Char_Index(((Face*)s)->face, cp);
 }