diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index f558e6d66..6fdb352af 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - checkout
       - run: apt update && apt install -y pkg-config ragel gtk-doc-tools libfreetype6-dev libglib2.0-dev libcairo2-dev libicu-dev libgraphite2-dev
-      - run: ./autogen.sh && make distcheck
+
+      - run: apt-cache policy libfreetype6-dev && echo @@@@ revert \#718 when this update @@@@ 1>&2
+      - run: wget http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && tar xf freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && cd freetype-2.9 && ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make -j4 && sudo make install && cd ..
+
+      - run: ./autogen.sh && LD_PRELOAD="$PWD/freetype-2.9/objs/.libs/libfreetype.so" make distcheck
       - run: make distdir && cd harfbuzz-* && cmake -DDHB_CHECK=ON -Bbuild -H. -GNinja && ninja -Cbuild && CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE=1 ninja -Cbuild test && ninja -Cbuild install
 
   alpine:
@@ -44,6 +48,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - checkout
       - run: apt update && apt install -y pkg-config ragel gtk-doc-tools libfreetype6-dev libglib2.0-dev libcairo2-dev libicu-dev libgraphite2-dev
+
+      - run: apt-cache policy libfreetype6-dev && echo @@@@ revert \#718 when this update @@@@ 1>&2
+      - run: wget http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && tar xf freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && cd freetype-2.9 && ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make -j4 && sudo make install && cd ..
+
       - run: cmake -DHB_CHECK=ON -Bbuild -H. -GNinja
       - run: ninja -Cbuild
       - run: CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE=1 ninja -Cbuild test
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 533670c80..5cf107159 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ matrix:
     - os: linux
       compiler: gcc
       script:
+        - apt-cache policy libfreetype6-dev && echo @@@@ revert \#718 when this update @@@@ 1>&2
+        - wget http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && tar xf freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && cd freetype-2.9 && ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make -j4 && cd ..
+        - export LD_PRELOAD="$PWD/freetype-2.9/objs/.libs/libfreetype.so"
+
         - ./autogen.sh
         - ./configure $CONFIGURE_OPTS --enable-gtk-doc
         - make
@@ -28,6 +32,10 @@ matrix:
     - os: linux
       compiler: clang
       script:
+        - apt-cache policy libfreetype6-dev && echo @@@@ revert \#718 when this update @@@@ 1>&2
+        - wget http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && tar xf freetype-2.9.tar.bz2 && cd freetype-2.9 && ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make -j4 && cd ..
+        - export LD_PRELOAD="$PWD/freetype-2.9/objs/.libs/libfreetype.so"
+
         - ./autogen.sh
         - ./configure $CONFIGURE_OPTS
         - make
@@ -64,4 +72,4 @@ addons:
       - libcairo2-dev # for utils
       - libicu-dev # for extra unicode functions
       - libgraphite2-dev # for extra shapers
-      - # libgirepository1.0-dev # for gobject-introspection
+      #- libgirepository1.0-dev # for gobject-introspection