diff --git a/util/face-options.hh b/util/face-options.hh
index 9c8d40f2c..6781c60ec 100644
--- a/util/face-options.hh
+++ b/util/face-options.hh
@@ -29,10 +29,18 @@
 
 #include "options.hh"
 
+#ifdef HAVE_FREETYPE
+#include <hb-ft.h>
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_CORETEXT
+#include <hb-coretext.h>
+#endif
+
 struct face_options_t
 {
   ~face_options_t ()
   {
+    g_free (face_loader);
     g_free (font_file);
   }
 
@@ -58,6 +66,7 @@ struct face_options_t
 
   char *font_file = nullptr;
   unsigned face_index = 0;
+  char *face_loader = nullptr;
 
   hb_face_t *face = nullptr;
 };
@@ -65,6 +74,20 @@ struct face_options_t
 
 face_options_t::cache_t face_options_t::cache {};
 
+static struct supported_face_loaders_t {
+	char name[9];
+	hb_face_t * (*func) (const char *font_file, unsigned face_index);
+} supported_face_loaders[] =
+{
+  {"ot",	hb_face_create_from_file_or_fail},
+#ifdef HAVE_FREETYPE
+  {"ft",	hb_ft_face_create_from_file_or_fail},
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_CORETEXT
+  {"coretext",	hb_coretext_face_create_from_file_or_fail},
+#endif
+};
+
 void
 face_options_t::post_parse (GError **error)
 {
@@ -89,13 +112,46 @@ face_options_t::post_parse (GError **error)
 #endif
   }
 
+  hb_face_t * (*face_load) (const char *file_name, unsigned face_index) = nullptr;
+  if (!face_loader)
+  {
+    face_load = supported_face_loaders[0].func;
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ARRAY_LENGTH (supported_face_loaders); i++)
+      if (0 == g_ascii_strcasecmp (face_loader, supported_face_loaders[i].name))
+      {
+	face_load = supported_face_loaders[i].func;
+	break;
+      }
+    if (!face_load)
+    {
+      GString *s = g_string_new (nullptr);
+      for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ARRAY_LENGTH (supported_face_loaders); i++)
+      {
+	if (i)
+	  g_string_append_c (s, '/');
+	g_string_append (s, supported_face_loaders[i].name);
+      }
+      g_string_append_c (s, '\n');
+      char *p = g_string_free (s, FALSE);
+      g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_BAD_VALUE,
+		   "Unknown face loader `%s'; supported values are: %s; default is %s",
+		   face_loader,
+		   p,
+		   supported_face_loaders[0].name);
+      free (p);
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
   if (!cache.font_path ||
       0 != strcmp (cache.font_path, font_path) ||
       cache.face_index != face_index)
   {
     hb_face_destroy (cache.face);
-    cache.face = hb_face_create_from_file_or_fail (font_path,
-						   face_index);
+    cache.face = face_load (font_path, face_index);
     cache.face_index = face_index;
 
     free ((char *) cache.font_path);
@@ -115,10 +171,28 @@ face_options_t::post_parse (GError **error)
 void
 face_options_t::add_options (option_parser_t *parser)
 {
+  char *face_loaders_text = nullptr;
+  {
+    static_assert ((ARRAY_LENGTH_CONST (supported_face_loaders) > 0),
+		   "No supported face-loaders found.");
+    GString *s = g_string_new (nullptr);
+    g_string_printf (s, "Set face loader to use (default: %s)\n\n    Supported face loaders are: %s",
+		     supported_face_loaders[0].name,
+		     supported_face_loaders[0].name);
+    for (unsigned int i = 1; i < ARRAY_LENGTH (supported_face_loaders); i++)
+    {
+      g_string_append_c (s, '/');
+      g_string_append (s, supported_face_loaders[i].name);
+    }
+    face_loaders_text = g_string_free (s, FALSE);
+    parser->free_later (face_loaders_text);
+  }
+
   GOptionEntry entries[] =
   {
     {"font-file",	0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&this->font_file,		"Set font file-name",				"filename"},
     {"face-index",	'y', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&this->face_index,		"Set face index (default: 0)",			"index"},
+    {"face-loader",	0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&this->face_loader,		face_loaders_text,				"loader"},
     {nullptr}
   };
   parser->add_group (entries,