diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 98604c3..2029510 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ dnl libtool versioning
 dnl bump revision when fixing bugs
 dnl bump current and age, reset revision to zero when adding APIs
 dnl bump current, leave age, reset revision to zero when changing/removing APIS
-LT_CURRENT=2
+LT_CURRENT=3
 LT_REVISION=0
 AC_SUBST(LT_CURRENT)
 AC_SUBST(LT_REVISION)
-LT_AGE=1
+LT_AGE=2
 
 LT_VERSION_INFO="$LT_CURRENT:$LT_REVISION:$LT_AGE"
 AC_SUBST(LT_VERSION_INFO)
diff --git a/doc/fcfreetype.fncs b/doc/fcfreetype.fncs
index b226561..dadecca 100644
--- a/doc/fcfreetype.fncs
+++ b/doc/fcfreetype.fncs
@@ -62,8 +62,23 @@ not in 'blanks' are not placed in the returned FcCharSet.
 @TYPE2@         int				@ARG2@          id      
 @TYPE3@         FcBlanks *			@ARG3@          blanks      
 @TYPE4@         int *				@ARG4@          count      
-@PURPOSE@	compute font file pattern
+@PURPOSE@	compute pattern from font file (and index)
 @DESC@
 Constructs a pattern representing the 'id'th font in 'file'.  The number
 of fonts in 'file' is returned in 'count'.
 @@
+
+@SYNOPSIS@
+#include <fontconfig.h>
+#include <fcfreetype.h>
+@RET@           FcPattern *      
+@FUNC@          FcFreeTypeQueryFace
+@TYPE1@		const FT_Face			@ARG1@		face
+@TYPE2@         const char *			@ARG2@          file
+@TYPE3@         int				@ARG3@          id
+@TYPE4@         FcBlanks *			@ARG4@          blanks
+@PURPOSE@	compute pattern from FT_Face
+@DESC@
+Constructs a pattern representing 'face'. 'file' and 'id' are used solely as
+data for pattern elements (FC_FILE, FC_INDEX and sometimes FC_FAMILY).
+@@
diff --git a/fontconfig/fcfreetype.h b/fontconfig/fcfreetype.h
index 0c2a81c..e9be351 100644
--- a/fontconfig/fcfreetype.h
+++ b/fontconfig/fcfreetype.h
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ FcPatternGetFTFace (const FcPattern *p, const char *object, int n, FT_Face *f);
 FcPublic FcBool
 FcPatternAddFTFace (FcPattern *p, const char *object, const FT_Face f);
 
+FcPublic FcPattern *
+FcFreeTypeQueryFace (const FT_Face  face,
+		     const FcChar8  *file,
+		     int	    id,
+		     FcBlanks	    *blanks);
+
 _FCFUNCPROTOEND
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/fcfreetype.c b/src/fcfreetype.c
index 8ca14d7..e2bcb15 100644
--- a/src/fcfreetype.c
+++ b/src/fcfreetype.c
@@ -1063,12 +1063,11 @@ static const FT_UShort nameid_order[] = {
 
 #define NUM_NAMEID_ORDER  (sizeof (nameid_order) / sizeof (nameid_order[0]))
 FcPattern *
-FcFreeTypeQuery (const FcChar8	*file,
-		 int		id,
-		 FcBlanks	*blanks,
-		 int		*count)
+FcFreeTypeQueryFace (const FT_Face  face,
+		     const FcChar8  *file,
+		     int	    id,
+		     FcBlanks	    *blanks)
 {
-    FT_Face	    face;
     FcPattern	    *pat;
     int		    slant = -1;
     int		    weight = -1;
@@ -1077,7 +1076,6 @@ FcFreeTypeQuery (const FcChar8	*file,
     int		    i;
     FcCharSet	    *cs;
     FcLangSet	    *ls;
-    FT_Library	    ftLibrary;
 #if 0
     FcChar8	    *family = 0;
 #endif
@@ -1108,14 +1106,6 @@ FcFreeTypeQuery (const FcChar8	*file,
     FcChar8	    *style = 0;
     int		    st;
     
-    if (FT_Init_FreeType (&ftLibrary))
-	return 0;
-    
-    if (FT_New_Face (ftLibrary, (char *) file, id, &face))
-	goto bail;
-
-    *count = face->num_faces;
-
     pat = FcPatternCreate ();
     if (!pat)
 	goto bail0;
@@ -1785,12 +1775,6 @@ FcFreeTypeQuery (const FcChar8	*file,
      */
     FcCharSetDestroy (cs);
     
-    /*
-     * Deallocate family/style values
-     */
-    
-    FT_Done_Face (face);
-    FT_Done_FreeType (ftLibrary);
     return pat;
 
 bail2:
@@ -1798,13 +1782,35 @@ bail2:
 bail1:
     FcPatternDestroy (pat);
 bail0:
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+FcPattern *
+FcFreeTypeQuery(const FcChar8	*file,
+		int		id,
+		FcBlanks	*blanks,
+		int		*count)
+{
+    FT_Face	    face;
+    FT_Library	    ftLibrary;
+    FcPattern	    *pat = NULL;
+    
+    if (FT_Init_FreeType (&ftLibrary))
+	return NULL;
+    
+    if (FT_New_Face (ftLibrary, (char *) file, id, &face))
+	goto bail;
+
+    *count = face->num_faces;
+
+    pat = FcFreeTypeQueryFace (face, file, id, blanks);
+
     FT_Done_Face (face);
 bail:
     FT_Done_FreeType (ftLibrary);
-    return 0;
+    return pat;
 }
 
-
 /*
  * For our purposes, this approximation is sufficient
  */