diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ce78796e6..5c7b7c19a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ matrix:
 env:
     global:
         - PYTHON=python3
-        - PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$HOME/glfw/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH
-        - LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$HOME/glfw/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+        - PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$HOME/glfw/lib/pkgconfig:$HOME/harfbuzz/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH
+        - LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$HOME/glfw/lib:$HOME/harfbuzz/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
         - ASAN_OPTIONS=leak_check_at_exit=0
 
 install: |
@@ -94,15 +94,25 @@ install: |
             curl https://download.calibre-ebook.com/travis/kitty/osx.tar.xz | tar xJ -C $SW;
         fi
     else
+        pushd /tmp
         wget -O glfw-3.2.1.zip https://github.com/glfw/glfw/archive/3.2.1.zip
         unzip -q glfw-3.2.1.zip
         cd glfw-3.2.1
         cmake -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DGLFW_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DGLFW_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DGLFW_BUILD_DOCS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/glfw
         make
         make install
+
+        wget https://github.com/behdad/harfbuzz/releases/download/1.6.3/harfbuzz-1.6.3.tar.bz2
+        tar xf harfbuzz-1.6.3.tar.bz2
+        cd harfbuzz-1.6.3
+        ./configure --prefix=$HOME/harfbuzz --disable-dependency-tracking --disable-static --with-glib=no --with-gobject=no --with-cairo=no --with-fontconfig=no --with-icu=no --with-directwrite=no --with-freetype=yes
+        make -j2
+        make install
         cd ..
+        popd
     fi
     pkg-config --cflags glfw3
+    pkg-config --cflags harfbuzz
     if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" != 'osx' ]]; then
         PLIB=$(ldd `which python` | grep libpython | cut -d ' ' -f 3)
         export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:`dirname $PLIB`
diff --git a/kitty/fonts.c b/kitty/fonts.c
index ce184eb6d..978c524c8 100644
--- a/kitty/fonts.c
+++ b/kitty/fonts.c
@@ -8,13 +8,6 @@
 #include "fonts.h"
 #include "state.h"
 
-#if HB_VERSION_MAJOR > 0 || (HB_VERSION_MAJOR == 0 && (HB_VERSION_MINOR > 9 || (HB_VERSION_MINOR == 9 && HB_VERSION_MICRO >= 42)))
-#define HARBUZZ_HAS_SET_CLUSTER_LEVEL
-#endif
-#if HB_VERSION_MAJOR < 1 || (HB_VERSION_MAJOR == 1 && (HB_VERSION_MINOR < 5))
-#define HB_GLYPH_FLAG_UNSAFE_TO_BREAK 1
-#endif
-
 #define MISSING_GLYPH 4
 
 typedef uint16_t glyph_index;
@@ -685,10 +678,8 @@ init_fonts(PyObject *module) {
     }
     harfbuzz_buffer = hb_buffer_create();
     if (harfbuzz_buffer == NULL || !hb_buffer_allocation_successful(harfbuzz_buffer) || !hb_buffer_pre_allocate(harfbuzz_buffer, 2048)) { PyErr_NoMemory(); return false; }
-#ifdef HARBUZZ_HAS_SET_CLUSTER_LEVEL
     // A cluster level of HB_BUFFER_CLUSTER_LEVEL_MONOTONE_CHARACTERS is needed for the unsafe to break API
     hb_buffer_set_cluster_level(harfbuzz_buffer, HB_BUFFER_CLUSTER_LEVEL_MONOTONE_CHARACTERS);
-#endif
     if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return false;
     current_send_sprite_to_gpu = send_sprite_to_gpu;
     return true;
diff --git a/kitty/freetype.c b/kitty/freetype.c
index 114df1b4b..9b35cfba5 100644
--- a/kitty/freetype.c
+++ b/kitty/freetype.c
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@
 #include <ft2build.h>
 #include <hb-ft.h>
 
-#if HB_VERSION_MAJOR > 1 || (HB_VERSION_MAJOR == 1 && (HB_VERSION_MINOR > 0 || (HB_VERSION_MINOR == 0 && HB_VERSION_MICRO >= 5)))
-#define HARBUZZ_HAS_LOAD_FLAGS
-#endif
 #if HB_VERSION_MAJOR > 1 || (HB_VERSION_MAJOR == 1 && (HB_VERSION_MINOR > 6 || (HB_VERSION_MINOR == 6 && HB_VERSION_MICRO >= 3)))
 #define HARFBUZZ_HAS_CHANGE_FONT
 #endif
@@ -131,9 +128,7 @@ new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject UNUSED *kwds) {
         if (!set_size_for_face((PyObject*)self, size_in_pts, xdpi, ydpi)) { Py_CLEAR(self); return NULL; }
         self->harfbuzz_font = hb_ft_font_create(self->face, NULL);
         if (self->harfbuzz_font == NULL) { Py_CLEAR(self); return PyErr_NoMemory(); }
-#ifdef HARBUZZ_HAS_LOAD_FLAGS
         hb_ft_font_set_load_flags(self->harfbuzz_font, get_load_flags(self->hinting, self->hintstyle, FT_LOAD_DEFAULT));
-#endif
     }
     return (PyObject*)self;
 }
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 839673da1..d2cf70408 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ def init_env(
     # automatically if this version is high enough
     cflags.append('-DPRIMARY_VERSION={}'.format(version[0] + 4000))
     cflags.append('-DSECONDARY_VERSION={}'.format(version[1]))
+    at_least_version('harfbuzz', 1, 5)
     cflags.extend(pkg_config('libpng', '--cflags-only-I'))
     if isosx:
         font_libs = ['-framework', 'CoreText', '-framework', 'CoreGraphics']