diff --git a/darwin/drawtext.m b/darwin/drawtext.m
index c29f71be..3274f4bf 100644
--- a/darwin/drawtext.m
+++ b/darwin/drawtext.m
@@ -46,6 +46,23 @@ struct uiDrawTextFont {
 	CTFontRef f;
 };
 
+uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFont(CTFontRef f, BOOL retain)
+{
+	uiDrawTextFont *font;
+
+	font = uiNew(uiDrawTextFont);
+	font->f = f;
+	if (retain)
+		CFRetain(font->f);
+	return font;
+}
+
+uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFontFromNSFont(NSFont *f)
+{
+	// toll-free bridging; we do retain, though
+	return mkTextFont((CTFontRef) f, YES);
+}
+
 static CFMutableDictionaryRef newAttrList(void)
 {
 	CFMutableDictionaryRef attr;
@@ -365,12 +382,10 @@ CFMutableDictionaryRef extractAttributes(CTFontDescriptorRef desc)
 
 uiDrawTextFont *uiDrawLoadClosestFont(const uiDrawTextFontDescriptor *desc)
 {
-	uiDrawTextFont *font;
+	CTFontRef f;
 	CFMutableDictionaryRef attr;
 	CTFontDescriptorRef cfdesc;
 
-	font = uiNew(uiDrawTextFont);
-
 	attr = newAttrList();
 	addFontFamilyAttr(attr, desc->Family);
 	addFontSizeAttr(attr, desc->Size);
@@ -388,10 +403,10 @@ uiDrawTextFont *uiDrawLoadClosestFont(const uiDrawTextFontDescriptor *desc)
 	// TODO release attr?
 */
 	// specify the initial size again just to be safe
-	font->f = CTFontCreateWithFontDescriptor(cfdesc, desc->Size, NULL);
+	f = CTFontCreateWithFontDescriptor(cfdesc, desc->Size, NULL);
 	// TODO release cfdesc?
 
-	return font;
+	return mkTextFont(f, NO);		// we hold the initial reference; no need to retain again
 }
 
 void uiDrawFreeTextFont(uiDrawTextFont *font)
@@ -585,6 +600,7 @@ static void prepareContextForText(CGContextRef c, CGFloat cheight, double *y)
 	*y = cheight - *y;
 }
 
+// TODO placement is incorrect for Helvetica
 void doDrawText(CGContextRef c, CGFloat cheight, double x, double y, uiDrawTextLayout *layout)
 {
 	struct framesetter fs;
diff --git a/darwin/uipriv_darwin.h b/darwin/uipriv_darwin.h
index 1c912188..6774fd33 100644
--- a/darwin/uipriv_darwin.h
+++ b/darwin/uipriv_darwin.h
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ extern uiDrawContext *newContext(CGContextRef, CGFloat);
 extern void freeContext(uiDrawContext *);
 
 // drawtext.m
+extern uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFont(CTFontRef f, BOOL retain);
+extern uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFontFromNSFont(NSFont *f);
 extern void doDrawText(CGContextRef c, CGFloat cheight, double x, double y, uiDrawTextLayout *layout);
 
 // fontbutton.m
diff --git a/unix/draw.c b/unix/draw.c
index 9a56c14e..67571032 100644
--- a/unix/draw.c
+++ b/unix/draw.c
@@ -487,6 +487,17 @@ struct uiDrawTextFont {
 	PangoFont *f;
 };
 
+uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFont(PangoFont *f, gboolean ref)
+{
+	uiDrawTextFont *font;
+
+	font = uiNew(uiDrawTextFont);
+	font->f = f;
+	if (ref)
+		g_object_ref(font->f);
+	return font;
+}
+
 static const PangoWeight pangoWeights[] = {
 	[uiDrawTextWeightThin] = PANGO_WEIGHT_THIN,
 	[uiDrawTextWeightUltraLight] = PANGO_WEIGHT_ULTRALIGHT,
@@ -527,13 +538,11 @@ static const PangoStretch pangoStretches[] = {
 
 uiDrawTextFont *uiDrawLoadClosestFont(const uiDrawTextFontDescriptor *desc)
 {
-	uiDrawTextFont *font;
+	PangoFont *f;
 	PangoFontDescription *pdesc;
 //TODO	PangoVariant variant;
 	PangoContext *context;
 
-	font = uiNew(uiDrawTextFont);
-
 	pdesc = pango_font_description_new();
 	pango_font_description_set_family(pdesc,
 		desc->Family);
@@ -555,14 +564,14 @@ TODO
 
 	// in this case, the context is necessary for the metrics to be correct
 	context = mkGenericPangoCairoContext();
-	font->f = pango_font_map_load_font(pango_cairo_font_map_get_default(), context, pdesc);
-	if (font->f == NULL) {
+	f = pango_font_map_load_font(pango_cairo_font_map_get_default(), context, pdesc);
+	if (f == NULL) {
 		// TODO
 		g_error("[libui] no match in uiDrawLoadClosestFont(); report to andlabs");
 	}
 	g_object_unref(context);
 
-	return font;
+	return mkTextFont(f, FALSE);			// we hold the initial reference; no need to retain
 }
 
 void uiDrawFreeTextFont(uiDrawTextFont *font)
diff --git a/unix/uipriv_unix.h b/unix/uipriv_unix.h
index 5355787b..d779f9be 100644
--- a/unix/uipriv_unix.h
+++ b/unix/uipriv_unix.h
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ extern void childSetMargined(struct child *c, int margined);
 // draw.c
 extern uiDrawContext *newContext(cairo_t *);
 extern void freeContext(uiDrawContext *);
+extern uiDrawTextFont *mkTextFont(PangoFont *f, gboolean add);
 
 // TODO
 #define uiControlQueueResize(...)