diff --git a/packages/layout/src/text/fontSubstitution.js b/packages/layout/src/text/fontSubstitution.js
index 4d2baaac9..637108153 100644
--- a/packages/layout/src/text/fontSubstitution.js
+++ b/packages/layout/src/text/fontSubstitution.js
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ const getOrCreateFont = name => {
 const getFallbackFont = () => getOrCreateFont('Helvetica');
 
 const shouldFallbackToFont = (codePoint, font) =>
-  !IGNORED_CODE_POINTS.includes(codePoint) &&
+  !font || (!IGNORED_CODE_POINTS.includes(codePoint) &&
   !font.hasGlyphForCodePoint(codePoint) &&
-  getFallbackFont().hasGlyphForCodePoint(codePoint);
+  getFallbackFont().hasGlyphForCodePoint(codePoint));
 
 const fontSubstitution = () => ({ string, runs }) => {
   let lastFont = null;
diff --git a/packages/layout/src/text/ignoreChars.js b/packages/layout/src/text/ignoreChars.js
index f9e15b7d5..5b86ef33c 100644
--- a/packages/layout/src/text/ignoreChars.js
+++ b/packages/layout/src/text/ignoreChars.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const IGNORABLE_CODEPOINTS = [
 
 const buildSubsetForFont = font =>
   IGNORABLE_CODEPOINTS.reduce((acc, codePoint) => {
-    if (font.hasGlyphForCodePoint && font.hasGlyphForCodePoint(codePoint)) {
+    if (font && font.hasGlyphForCodePoint && font.hasGlyphForCodePoint(codePoint)) {
       return acc;
     }
     return [...acc, String.fromCharCode(codePoint)];