diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6c26d3c..304f2a9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ LIB_EXIF_0 =
 LIB_EXIF_1 = -lexif
 LIB_GIF_0 =
 LIB_GIF_1 = -lgif
-LDLIBS = -lImlib2 -lX11 -lXft \
+LDLIBS = -lImlib2 -lX11 -lXft -lfontconfig \
   $(LIB_EXIF_$(HAVE_LIBEXIF)) $(LIB_GIF_$(HAVE_GIFLIB))
 
 OBJS = autoreload_$(AUTORELOAD).o commands.o image.o main.o options.o \
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index ebe14c9..0bafac5 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -390,8 +390,8 @@ void update_info(void)
 	if (ow_info) {
 		fn = strlen(files[fileidx].name);
 		if (fn < l->size &&
-		    win_textwidth(&win.env, files[fileidx].name, fn, true) +
-		    win_textwidth(&win.env, r->buf, r->p - r->buf, true) < win.w)
+		    win_textwidth(&win.env, files[fileidx].name, fn, true, NULL) +
+		    win_textwidth(&win.env, r->buf, r->p - r->buf, true, NULL) < win.w)
 		{
 			strncpy(l->buf, files[fileidx].name, l->size);
 		} else {
diff --git a/sxiv.h b/sxiv.h
index 25443ea..2d026b1 100644
--- a/sxiv.h
+++ b/sxiv.h
@@ -362,6 +362,7 @@ int r_opendir(r_dir_t*, const char*, bool);
 int r_closedir(r_dir_t*);
 char* r_readdir(r_dir_t*);
 int r_mkdir(char*);
+void* utf8codepoint(const void * __restrict__ str, long * __restrict__ out_codepoint);
 
 
 /* window.c */
@@ -442,7 +443,7 @@ void win_toggle_bar(win_t*);
 void win_clear(win_t*);
 void win_draw(win_t*);
 void win_draw_rect(win_t*, int, int, int, int, bool, int, unsigned long);
-int win_textwidth(const win_env_t*, const char*, unsigned int, bool);
+int win_textwidth(const win_env_t*, const char*, unsigned int, bool, XftFont*);
 void win_set_title(win_t*, const char*);
 void win_set_cursor(win_t*, cursor_t);
 void win_cursor_pos(win_t*, int*, int*);
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index 6a236c6..973bc80 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -204,3 +204,32 @@ int r_mkdir(char *path)
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
+
+/* copied from sheredom's utf8.h (public domain) https://github.com/sheredom/utf8.h */
+
+void* utf8codepoint(const void* __restrict__ str, long* __restrict__ out_codepoint)
+{
+	 const char *s = (const char *)str;
+
+	 if (0xf0 == (0xf8 & s[0])) {
+		// 4 byte utf8 codepoint
+		*out_codepoint = ((0x07 & s[0]) << 18) | ((0x3f & s[1]) << 12) |
+				 ((0x3f & s[2]) << 6) | (0x3f & s[3]);
+		s += 4;
+	} else if (0xe0 == (0xf0 & s[0])) {
+		// 3 byte utf8 codepoint
+		*out_codepoint = ((0x0f & s[0]) << 12) | ((0x3f & s[1]) << 6) | (0x3f & s[2]);
+		s += 3;
+	} else if (0xc0 == (0xe0 & s[0])) {
+		// 2 byte utf8 codepoint
+		*out_codepoint = ((0x1f & s[0]) << 6) | (0x3f & s[1]);
+		s += 2;
+	} else {
+		// 1 byte utf8 codepoint otherwise
+		*out_codepoint = s[0];
+		s += 1;
+	}
+
+	return (void *)s;
+}
+
diff --git a/window.c b/window.c
index 71d439f..46c3c6d 100644
--- a/window.c
+++ b/window.c
@@ -360,9 +360,40 @@ void win_clear(win_t *win)
 	XFillRectangle(e->dpy, win->buf.pm, gc, 0, 0, win->buf.w, win->buf.h);
 }
 
+void win_draw_bar_text(win_t *win, XftDraw *d, XftColor *color, XftFont *font, int x, int y, char *text, int maxlen, int maximum_x)
+{
+	size_t len = 0;
+	int xshift = 0, newshift;
+	long codep;
+	char *p, *nextp;
+	FcCharSet* fccharset;
+	XftFont* fallback = NULL;
+
+	for (p = text; *p && (len < maxlen); p = nextp, len++) {
+		nextp = utf8codepoint(p, &codep);
+		if (!XftCharExists(win->env.dpy, font, codep)) {
+			fccharset = FcCharSetCreate();
+			FcCharSetAddChar(fccharset, codep);
+			fallback = XftFontOpen(win->env.dpy, win->env.scr,
+					FC_CHARSET, FcTypeCharSet, fccharset,
+					FC_SCALABLE, FcTypeBool, FcTrue,
+					NULL);
+			FcCharSetDestroy(fccharset);
+		}
+		newshift = win_textwidth(&win->env, p, (int) (nextp-p), false, (fallback ? fallback : font));
+		if (xshift + newshift <= maximum_x)
+			XftDrawStringUtf8(d, color, (fallback ? fallback : font), x + xshift, y, (XftChar8*)p, (int) (nextp-p));
+		xshift += newshift;
+		if (fallback) {
+			XftFontClose(win->env.dpy, fallback);
+			fallback = NULL;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 void win_draw_bar(win_t *win)
 {
-	int len, olen, x, y, w, tw;
+	int len, olen, x, y, w, tw, maximum_x;
 	char rest[3];
 	const char *dots = "...";
 	win_env_t *e;
@@ -385,7 +416,7 @@ void win_draw_bar(win_t *win)
 	XSetBackground(e->dpy, gc, win->bar.bgcol.pixel);
 
 	if ((len = strlen(r->buf)) > 0) {
-		if ((tw = win_textwidth(e, r->buf, len, true)) > w)
+		if ((tw = win_textwidth(e, r->buf, len, true, font)) > w)
 			return;
 		x = win->w - tw + H_TEXT_PAD;
 		w -= tw;
@@ -393,9 +424,10 @@ void win_draw_bar(win_t *win)
 	}
 	if ((len = strlen(l->buf)) > 0) {
 		olen = len;
-		while (len > 0 && (tw = win_textwidth(e, l->buf, len, true)) > w)
+		while (len > 0 && (tw = win_textwidth(e, l->buf, len, true, font)) > w)
 			len--;
 		if (len > 0) {
+			maximum_x = w;
 			if (len != olen) {
 				w = strlen(dots);
 				if (len <= w)
@@ -404,7 +436,7 @@ void win_draw_bar(win_t *win)
 				memcpy(l->buf + len - w, dots, w);
 			}
 			x = H_TEXT_PAD;
-			XftDrawStringUtf8(d, &win->bar.fgcol, font, x, y, (XftChar8*)l->buf, len);
+			win_draw_bar_text(win, d, &win->bar.fgcol, font, x, y, l->buf, len, maximum_x);
 			if (len != olen)
 			  memcpy(l->buf + len - w, rest, w);
 		}
@@ -437,11 +469,14 @@ void win_draw_rect(win_t *win, int x, int y, int w, int h, bool fill, int lw,
 		XDrawRectangle(win->env.dpy, win->buf.pm, gc, x, y, w, h);
 }
 
-int win_textwidth(const win_env_t *e, const char *text, unsigned int len, bool with_padding)
+int win_textwidth(const win_env_t *e, const char *text, unsigned int len, bool with_padding, XftFont *fnt)
 {
 	XGlyphInfo ext;
 
-	XftTextExtentsUtf8(e->dpy, font, (XftChar8*)text, len, &ext);
+	if(!fnt)
+		fnt = font;
+
+	XftTextExtentsUtf8(e->dpy, fnt, (XftChar8*)text, len, &ext);
 	return ext.xOff + (with_padding ? 2 * H_TEXT_PAD : 0);
 }