diff --git a/src/cairo-scaled-font-subsets-private.h b/src/cairo-scaled-font-subsets-private.h
index da64f7f1e..c62123561 100644
--- a/src/cairo-scaled-font-subsets-private.h
+++ b/src/cairo-scaled-font-subsets-private.h
@@ -554,4 +554,26 @@ _cairo_type2_charstrings_fini (cairo_type2_charstrings_t *charstrings);
 cairo_private cairo_int_status_t
 _cairo_truetype_create_glyph_to_unicode_map (cairo_scaled_font_subset_t	*font_subset);
 
+/**
+ * _cairo_truetype_index_to_ucs4:
+ * @scaled_font: the #cairo_scaled_font_t
+ * @index: the glyph index
+ * @ucs4: return value for the unicode value of the glyph
+ *
+ * If possible (depending on the format of the underlying
+ * #cairo_scaled_font_t and the font backend in use) assign
+ * the unicode character of the glyph to @ucs4.
+ *
+ * If mapping glyph indices to unicode is supported but the unicode
+ * value of the specified glyph is not available, @ucs4 is set to -1.
+ *
+ * Return value: %CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS if successful,
+ * %CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED if mapping glyph indices to unicode
+ * is not supported.  Possible errors include %CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY.
+ **/
+cairo_private cairo_int_status_t
+_cairo_truetype_index_to_ucs4 (cairo_scaled_font_t *scaled_font,
+                               unsigned long        index,
+                               uint32_t            *ucs4);
+
 #endif /* CAIRO_SCALED_FONT_SUBSETS_PRIVATE_H */
diff --git a/src/cairo-truetype-subset.c b/src/cairo-truetype-subset.c
index c3f0b0568..5e4210eb4 100644
--- a/src/cairo-truetype-subset.c
+++ b/src/cairo-truetype-subset.c
@@ -1318,3 +1318,154 @@ cleanup:
 
     return status;
 }
+
+static cairo_int_status_t
+_cairo_truetype_reverse_cmap (cairo_scaled_font_t *scaled_font,
+			      unsigned long        table_offset,
+			      unsigned long        index,
+			      uint32_t            *ucs4)
+{
+    cairo_status_t status;
+    const cairo_scaled_font_backend_t *backend;
+    tt_segment_map_t *map;
+    char buf[4];
+    unsigned int num_segments, i;
+    unsigned long size;
+    uint16_t *start_code;
+    uint16_t *end_code;
+    uint16_t *delta;
+    uint16_t *range_offset;
+    uint16_t *glyph_array;
+    uint16_t  c;
+
+    backend = scaled_font->backend;
+    size = 4;
+    status = backend->load_truetype_table (scaled_font,
+                                           TT_TAG_cmap, table_offset,
+					   (unsigned char *) &buf,
+					   &size);
+    if (status)
+	return status;
+
+    /* All table formats have the same first two words */
+    map = (tt_segment_map_t *) buf;
+    if (be16_to_cpu (map->format) != 4)
+	return CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED;
+
+    size = be16_to_cpu (map->length);
+    map = malloc (size);
+    if (map == NULL)
+	return _cairo_error (CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY);
+
+    status = backend->load_truetype_table (scaled_font,
+                                           TT_TAG_cmap, table_offset,
+                                           (unsigned char *) map,
+                                           &size);
+    if (status)
+	goto fail;
+
+    num_segments = be16_to_cpu (map->segCountX2)/2;
+    end_code = map->endCount;
+    start_code = &(end_code[num_segments + 1]);
+    delta = &(start_code[num_segments]);
+    range_offset = &(delta[num_segments]);
+    glyph_array = &(range_offset[num_segments]);
+
+    /* search for glyph in segments
+     * with rangeOffset=0 */
+    for (i = 0; i < num_segments; i++) {
+	c = index - be16_to_cpu (delta[i]);
+	if (range_offset[i] == 0 &&
+	    c >= be16_to_cpu (start_code[i]) &&
+	    c <= be16_to_cpu (end_code[i]))
+	{
+	    *ucs4 = c;
+	    goto found;
+	}
+    }
+
+    /* search for glyph in segments with rangeOffset=1 */
+    for (i = 0; i < num_segments; i++) {
+	if (range_offset[i] != 0) {
+	    uint16_t *glyph_ids = &range_offset[i] + be16_to_cpu (range_offset[i])/2;
+	    int range_size = be16_to_cpu (end_code[i]) - be16_to_cpu (start_code[i]) + 1;
+	    uint16_t g_id_be = cpu_to_be16 (index);
+	    int j;
+
+	    for (j = 0; j < range_size; j++) {
+		if (glyph_ids[j] == g_id_be) {
+		    *ucs4 = be16_to_cpu (start_code[i]) + j;
+		    goto found;
+		}
+	    }
+	}
+    }
+
+    /* glyph not found */
+    *ucs4 = -1;
+
+found:
+    status = CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS;
+
+fail:
+    free (map);
+
+    return status;
+}
+
+cairo_int_status_t
+_cairo_truetype_index_to_ucs4 (cairo_scaled_font_t *scaled_font,
+                               unsigned long        index,
+                               uint32_t            *ucs4)
+{
+    cairo_status_t status = CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED;
+    const cairo_scaled_font_backend_t *backend;
+    tt_cmap_t *cmap;
+    char buf[4];
+    int num_tables, i;
+    unsigned long size;
+
+    backend = scaled_font->backend;
+    if (!backend->load_truetype_table)
+	return CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED;
+
+    size = 4;
+    status = backend->load_truetype_table (scaled_font,
+                                           TT_TAG_cmap, 0,
+					   (unsigned char *) &buf,
+					   &size);
+    if (status)
+	return status;
+
+    cmap = (tt_cmap_t *) buf;
+    num_tables = be16_to_cpu (cmap->num_tables);
+    size = 4 + num_tables*sizeof(tt_cmap_index_t);
+    cmap = malloc (size);
+    if (cmap == NULL)
+	return _cairo_error (CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY);
+
+    status = backend->load_truetype_table (scaled_font,
+	                                   TT_TAG_cmap, 0,
+					   (unsigned char *) cmap,
+					   &size);
+    if (status)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    /* Find a table with Unicode mapping */
+    for (i = 0; i < num_tables; i++) {
+        if (be16_to_cpu (cmap->index[i].platform) == 3 &&
+            be16_to_cpu (cmap->index[i].encoding) == 1) {
+            status = _cairo_truetype_reverse_cmap (scaled_font,
+						   be32_to_cpu (cmap->index[i].offset),
+						   index,
+						   ucs4);
+            if (status != CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED)
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+
+cleanup:
+    free (cmap);
+
+    return status;
+}