diff --git a/src/hb-coretext-shape.cc b/src/hb-coretext-shape.cc
index 927d7cd98..576aebe59 100644
--- a/src/hb-coretext-shape.cc
+++ b/src/hb-coretext-shape.cc
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ _hb_coretext_shaper_font_data_create (hb_font_t *font)
     return nullptr;
   }
 
-  if (font->num_coords)
   {
     CFMutableDictionaryRef variations =
       CFDictionaryCreateMutable (kCFAllocatorDefault,
@@ -81,12 +80,16 @@ _hb_coretext_shaper_font_data_create (hb_font_t *font)
 				 &kCFTypeDictionaryKeyCallBacks,
 				 &kCFTypeDictionaryValueCallBacks);
 
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < font->num_coords; i++)
+    unsigned num_axes = hb_ot_var_get_axis_count (face);
+    unsigned count = hb_max (num_axes, font->num_coords);
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < count; i++)
     {
       hb_ot_var_axis_info_t info;
       unsigned int c = 1;
       hb_ot_var_get_axis_infos (font->face, i, &c, &info);
-      float v = hb_clamp (font->design_coords[i], info.min_value, info.max_value);
+      float v = i < font->num_coords ?
+		hb_clamp (font->design_coords[i], info.min_value, info.max_value) :
+		info.default_value;
 
       CFNumberRef tag_number = CFNumberCreate (kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberIntType, &info.tag);
       CFNumberRef value_number = CFNumberCreate (kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberFloatType, &v);