diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 87d7c9b6..def30142 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -370,6 +370,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "gdk-pixbuf 0.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "glib 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "mime 0.3.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pango 0.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pangocairo 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "regex 0.2.10 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "reqwest 0.8.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "serde 1.0.43 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -1088,6 +1090,36 @@ dependencies = [
  "pkg-config 0.3.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pangocairo"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 0.9.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "cairo-rs 0.4.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "cairo-sys-rs 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "glib 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "glib-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "gobject-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "libc 0.2.40 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pango 0.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pango-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pangocairo-sys 0.7.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pangocairo-sys"
+version = "0.7.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "cairo-sys-rs 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "glib-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "libc 0.2.40 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pango-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "pkg-config 0.3.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "percent-encoding"
 version = "1.0.1"
@@ -2014,6 +2046,8 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum ordermap 0.3.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "a86ed3f5f244b372d6b1a00b72ef7f8876d0bc6a78a4c9985c53614041512063"
 "checksum pango 0.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "45374801e224373c3c0393cd48073c81093494c8735721e81d1dbaa4096b2767"
 "checksum pango-sys 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "94039b3921a4af4058a3e4335e5d15099101f298a92f5afc40bab3a3027594a1"
+"checksum pangocairo 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "db4130d0e0567b177178c9568466277ff167cb43a245b2881e203509ea5fbd84"
+"checksum pangocairo-sys 0.7.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "decc9523cd5bbba49a67ed8d2ef7dfca957f4760bf420a1ea4a82634da26381c"
 "checksum percent-encoding 1.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "31010dd2e1ac33d5b46a5b413495239882813e0369f8ed8a5e266f173602f831"
 "checksum pest 1.0.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "0fce5d8b5cc33983fc74f78ad552b5522ab41442c4ca91606e4236eb4b5ceefc"
 "checksum pest_derive 1.0.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "ab94faafeb93f4c5e3ce81ca0e5a779529a602ad5d09ae6d21996bfb8b6a52bf"
diff --git a/fractal-api/Cargo.toml b/fractal-api/Cargo.toml
index aed8b9fb..7ff2e338 100644
--- a/fractal-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/fractal-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ gdk-pixbuf = "0.4.0"
 #gdk-pixbuf-sys = "0.5.0"
 glib = "0.5.0"
 mime = "0.3.5"
+pango = "0.4.0"
+pangocairo = "0.5.0"
 regex = "0.2.10"
 reqwest = "0.8.5"
 serde = "1.0.43"
diff --git a/fractal-api/src/util.rs b/fractal-api/src/util.rs
index 443c3bc1..3da316a0 100644
--- a/fractal-api/src/util.rs
+++ b/fractal-api/src/util.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ extern crate serde_json;
 extern crate chrono;
 extern crate time;
 extern crate cairo;
+extern crate pango;
+extern crate pangocairo;
 extern crate gdk;
 extern crate gdk_pixbuf;
 extern crate mime;
@@ -14,6 +16,8 @@ extern crate unicode_segmentation;
 
 use self::unicode_segmentation::UnicodeSegmentation;
 
+use self::pango::LayoutExt;
+
 use self::gdk_pixbuf::Pixbuf;
 use self::gdk_pixbuf::PixbufExt;
 use self::gdk::ContextExt;
@@ -648,7 +652,6 @@ pub fn draw_identicon(fname: &str, name: String, mode: AvatarMode) -> Result<Str
         }
     };
 
-    g.set_font_size(24.);
     g.set_source_rgb(1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
 
     let name = name.to_uppercase();
@@ -661,10 +664,18 @@ pub fn draw_identicon(fname: &str, name: String, mode: AvatarMode) -> Result<Str
         None => String::from("X"),
     };
 
-    let te = g.text_extents(&first);
-    g.move_to(20.0 - te.x_bearing - te.width / 2.0,
-              20.0 + te.height / 2.0);
-    g.show_text(&first);
+    let layout = pangocairo::functions::create_layout(&g).unwrap();
+    let fontdesc = pango::FontDescription::from_string("Cantarell 20");
+    layout.set_font_description(&fontdesc);
+    layout.set_text(&first);
+    // Move to center of the background shape we drew,
+    // offset by half the size of the glyph
+    let bx = image.get_width();
+    let by = image.get_height();
+    let (ox, oy) = layout.get_pixel_size();
+    g.translate((bx - ox) as f64/2., (by - oy) as f64/2.);
+    // Finally draw the glyph
+    pangocairo::functions::show_layout(&g, &layout);
 
     let mut buffer = File::create(&fname)?;
     image.write_to_png(&mut buffer)?;