diff --git a/src/gui/Font.cc b/src/gui/Font.cc
index a95da8d..9664c12 100644
--- a/src/gui/Font.cc
+++ b/src/gui/Font.cc
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ namespace jes
 
         m_line_height = round_up_26_6(m_face->size->metrics.height);
 
+        GlyphRef x_glyph = load_glyph('x');
+        if (x_glyph.is_null())
+        {
+            std::cerr << "Could not load 'x' glyph from font" << fname << std::endl;
+            return false;
+        }
+        m_advance = x_glyph->get_advance();
+
         m_loaded = true;
         return true;
     }