diff --git a/src/hb-ot-shape-normalize.cc b/src/hb-ot-shape-normalize.cc
index 4287253ae..8cc64af01 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-shape-normalize.cc
+++ b/src/hb-ot-shape-normalize.cc
@@ -197,16 +197,17 @@ static inline void
 decompose_current_character (const hb_ot_shape_normalize_context_t *c, bool shortest)
 {
   hb_buffer_t * const buffer = c->buffer;
+  hb_codepoint_t u = buffer->cur().codepoint;
   hb_codepoint_t glyph;
 
   /* Kind of a cute waterfall here... */
-  if (shortest && c->font->get_glyph (buffer->cur().codepoint, 0, &glyph))
+  if (shortest && c->font->get_glyph (u, 0, &glyph))
     next_char (buffer, glyph);
-  else if (decompose (c, shortest, buffer->cur().codepoint))
+  else if (decompose (c, shortest, u))
     skip_char (buffer);
-  else if (!shortest && c->font->get_glyph (buffer->cur().codepoint, 0, &glyph))
+  else if (!shortest && c->font->get_glyph (u, 0, &glyph))
     next_char (buffer, glyph);
-  else if (decompose_compatibility (c, buffer->cur().codepoint))
+  else if (decompose_compatibility (c, u))
     skip_char (buffer);
   else
     next_char (buffer, glyph); /* glyph is initialized in earlier branches. */