diff --git a/src/hb-buffer.cc b/src/hb-buffer.cc
index 0ce7d8098..0500aa23c 100644
--- a/src/hb-buffer.cc
+++ b/src/hb-buffer.cc
@@ -1328,15 +1328,15 @@ hb_buffer_guess_segment_properties (hb_buffer_t *buffer)
   buffer->guess_segment_properties ();
 }
 
-template <bool validate, typename T>
+template <typename utf_t>
 static inline void
 hb_buffer_add_utf (hb_buffer_t  *buffer,
-		   const T      *text,
+		   const typename utf_t::codepoint_t *text,
 		   int           text_length,
 		   unsigned int  item_offset,
 		   int           item_length)
 {
-  typedef hb_utf_t<T, validate> utf_t;
+  typedef typename utf_t::codepoint_t T;
   const hb_codepoint_t replacement = buffer->replacement;
 
   assert (buffer->content_type == HB_BUFFER_CONTENT_TYPE_UNICODE ||
@@ -1416,7 +1416,7 @@ hb_buffer_add_utf8 (hb_buffer_t  *buffer,
 		    unsigned int  item_offset,
 		    int           item_length)
 {
-  hb_buffer_add_utf<true> (buffer, (const uint8_t *) text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
+  hb_buffer_add_utf<hb_utf8_t> (buffer, (const uint8_t *) text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1438,7 +1438,7 @@ hb_buffer_add_utf16 (hb_buffer_t    *buffer,
 		     unsigned int    item_offset,
 		     int             item_length)
 {
-  hb_buffer_add_utf<true> (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
+  hb_buffer_add_utf<hb_utf16_t> (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1460,7 +1460,29 @@ hb_buffer_add_utf32 (hb_buffer_t    *buffer,
 		     unsigned int    item_offset,
 		     int             item_length)
 {
-  hb_buffer_add_utf<true> (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
+  hb_buffer_add_utf<hb_utf32_t<> > (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
+}
+
+/**
+ * hb_buffer_add_latin1:
+ * @buffer: a buffer.
+ * @text: (array length=text_length) (element-type uint8_t):
+ * @text_length: 
+ * @item_offset: 
+ * @item_length: 
+ *
+ * 
+ *
+ * Since: 1.0
+ **/
+void
+hb_buffer_add_latin1 (hb_buffer_t   *buffer,
+		      const uint8_t *text,
+		      int            text_length,
+		      unsigned int   item_offset,
+		      int            item_length)
+{
+  hb_buffer_add_utf<hb_latin1_t> (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1482,7 +1504,7 @@ hb_buffer_add_codepoints (hb_buffer_t          *buffer,
 			  unsigned int          item_offset,
 			  int                   item_length)
 {
-  hb_buffer_add_utf<false> (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
+  hb_buffer_add_utf<hb_utf32_t<false> > (buffer, text, text_length, item_offset, item_length);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/hb-buffer.h b/src/hb-buffer.h
index 7b0c92046..e5b46d867 100644
--- a/src/hb-buffer.h
+++ b/src/hb-buffer.h
@@ -253,6 +253,14 @@ hb_buffer_add_utf32 (hb_buffer_t    *buffer,
 		     unsigned int    item_offset,
 		     int             item_length);
 
+/* Allows only access to first 256 Unicode codepoints. */
+void
+hb_buffer_add_latin1 (hb_buffer_t   *buffer,
+		      const uint8_t *text,
+		      int            text_length,
+		      unsigned int   item_offset,
+		      int            item_length);
+
 /* Like add_utf32 but does NOT check for invalid Unicode codepoints. */
 void
 hb_buffer_add_codepoints (hb_buffer_t          *buffer,
diff --git a/src/hb-utf-private.hh b/src/hb-utf-private.hh
index 0b798a05c..14d3c2e36 100644
--- a/src/hb-utf-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-utf-private.hh
@@ -29,14 +29,11 @@
 
 #include "hb-private.hh"
 
-template <typename T, bool validate=true> struct hb_utf_t;
 
-
-/* UTF-8 */
-
-template <>
-struct hb_utf_t<uint8_t, true>
+struct hb_utf8_t
 {
+  typedef uint8_t codepoint_t;
+
   static inline const uint8_t *
   next (const uint8_t *text,
 	const uint8_t *end,
@@ -131,11 +128,10 @@ struct hb_utf_t<uint8_t, true>
 };
 
 
-/* UTF-16 */
-
-template <>
-struct hb_utf_t<uint16_t, true>
+struct hb_utf16_t
 {
+  typedef uint16_t codepoint_t;
+
   static inline const uint16_t *
   next (const uint16_t *text,
 	const uint16_t *end,
@@ -204,11 +200,11 @@ struct hb_utf_t<uint16_t, true>
 };
 
 
-/* UTF-32 */
-
-template <bool validate>
-struct hb_utf_t<uint32_t, validate>
+template <bool validate=true>
+struct hb_utf32_t
 {
+  typedef uint32_t codepoint_t;
+
   static inline const uint32_t *
   next (const uint32_t *text,
 	const uint32_t *end HB_UNUSED,
@@ -246,4 +242,37 @@ struct hb_utf_t<uint32_t, validate>
 };
 
 
+struct hb_latin1_t
+{
+  typedef uint8_t codepoint_t;
+
+  static inline const uint8_t *
+  next (const uint8_t *text,
+	const uint8_t *end HB_UNUSED,
+	hb_codepoint_t *unicode,
+	hb_codepoint_t replacement HB_UNUSED)
+  {
+    *unicode = *text++;
+    return text;
+  }
+
+  static inline const uint8_t *
+  prev (const uint8_t *text,
+	const uint8_t *start HB_UNUSED,
+	hb_codepoint_t *unicode,
+	hb_codepoint_t replacement)
+  {
+    *unicode = *--text;
+    return text;
+  }
+
+  static inline unsigned int
+  strlen (const uint8_t *text)
+  {
+    unsigned int l = 0;
+    while (*text++) l++;
+    return l;
+  }
+};
+
 #endif /* HB_UTF_PRIVATE_HH */