diff --git a/src/cairo-cff-subset.c b/src/cairo-cff-subset.c
index b1c665daa..fd74d2ddc 100644
--- a/src/cairo-cff-subset.c
+++ b/src/cairo-cff-subset.c
@@ -3160,7 +3160,7 @@ _cairo_cff_font_fallback_create (cairo_scaled_font_subset_t  *scaled_font_subset
     cairo_status_t status;
     cairo_cff_font_t *font;
 
-    font = _cairo_malloc (sizeof (cairo_cff_font_t));
+    font = calloc (1, sizeof (cairo_cff_font_t));
     if (unlikely (font == NULL))
 	return _cairo_error (CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY);