diff --git a/src/cairo-scaled-font.c b/src/cairo-scaled-font.c
index e07ab537d..73afb5ff0 100755
--- a/src/cairo-scaled-font.c
+++ b/src/cairo-scaled-font.c
@@ -920,6 +920,9 @@ _cairo_scaled_font_show_glyphs (cairo_scaled_font_t    *scaled_font,
     if (scaled_font->status)
 	return scaled_font->status;
 
+    if (!num_glyphs)
+	return CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS;
+
     if (scaled_font->backend->show_glyphs != NULL) {
 	status = scaled_font->backend->show_glyphs (scaled_font,
 						    op, pattern,
diff --git a/src/cairo-surface.c b/src/cairo-surface.c
index 669097142..ee9a28992 100644
--- a/src/cairo-surface.c
+++ b/src/cairo-surface.c
@@ -1812,6 +1812,9 @@ _cairo_surface_show_glyphs (cairo_surface_t	*surface,
         return CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY;
     }
 
+    if (!num_glyphs)
+	return CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS;
+
     _cairo_surface_copy_pattern_for_destination (source,
 						 surface,
 						 &dev_source.base);