diff --git a/util/hb-subset.cc b/util/hb-subset.cc
index 2ec0efe36..67cfed193 100644
--- a/util/hb-subset.cc
+++ b/util/hb-subset.cc
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ struct subset_consumer_t
              const font_options_t *font_opts)
   {
     font = hb_font_reference (font_opts->get_font ());
+    codepoints = hb_set_create();
   }
 
   void consume_line (const char   *text,
@@ -50,6 +51,16 @@ struct subset_consumer_t
                      const char   *text_before,
                      const char   *text_after)
   {
+    // text appears to be a g_string when set by --unicodes
+    // TODO(Q1) are gunichar and hbcodepoint_t interchangeable?
+    // TODO(Q1) does this only get called with at least 1 codepoint?
+    gchar *c = (gchar *)text;
+    do {
+      gunichar cp = g_utf8_get_char(c);
+      hb_codepoint_t hb_cp = cp; // TODO(Q1) is this safe?
+      hb_set_add(codepoints, hb_cp);
+      g_print ("  U+%04X %" G_GINT32_FORMAT "\n", cp, cp);
+    } while ((c = g_utf8_find_next_char(c, text + text_len)) != nullptr);
   }
 
   hb_bool_t
@@ -80,16 +91,19 @@ struct subset_consumer_t
   {
     // TODO(Q1) check for errors from creates and such
     hb_subset_profile_t *subset_profile = hb_subset_profile_create();
-    hb_subset_input_t *subset_input = hb_subset_input_create (hb_set_get_empty ());
+    hb_subset_input_t *subset_input = hb_subset_input_create (codepoints);
     hb_face_t *face = hb_font_get_face (font);
     hb_subset_face_t *subset_face = hb_subset_face_create(face);
 
+
+
     hb_blob_t *result = nullptr;
     failed = !(hb_subset(subset_profile, subset_input, subset_face, &result)
                && write_file(options.output_file, result));
 
     hb_subset_profile_destroy (subset_profile);
     hb_subset_input_destroy (subset_input);
+    hb_set_destroy (codepoints);
     hb_subset_face_destroy (subset_face);
     hb_blob_destroy (result);
     hb_font_destroy (font);
@@ -101,6 +115,7 @@ struct subset_consumer_t
   private:
   output_options_t options;
   hb_font_t *font;
+  hb_set_t *codepoints;
 };
 
 int