diff --git a/util/face-options.hh b/util/face-options.hh
index 229c40e97..3ac366404 100644
--- a/util/face-options.hh
+++ b/util/face-options.hh
@@ -38,15 +38,7 @@ struct face_options_t
 
   void add_options (option_parser_t *parser);
 
-  void post_parse (GError **error)
-  {
-    if (!this->font_file)
-      g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_FAILED,
-		   "No font file set");
-  }
-
-  hb_blob_t *get_blob () const;
-  hb_face_t *get_face () const;
+  void post_parse (GError **error);
 
   static struct cache_t
   {
@@ -65,25 +57,20 @@ struct face_options_t
 
   char *font_file = nullptr;
   unsigned face_index = 0;
-  private:
-  mutable hb_face_t *face = nullptr;
+
+  hb_blob_t *blob = nullptr;
+  hb_face_t *face = nullptr;
 };
 
 
 face_options_t::cache_t face_options_t::cache {};
 
-hb_blob_t *
-face_options_t::get_blob () const
+void
+face_options_t::post_parse (GError **error)
 {
-  // XXX This does the job for now; will move to post_parse.
-  return cache.blob;
-}
-
-hb_face_t *
-face_options_t::get_face () const
-{
-  if (face)
-    return face;
+  if (!font_file)
+    g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_FAILED,
+		 "No font file set");
 
   assert (font_file);
 
@@ -108,7 +95,8 @@ face_options_t::get_face () const
     cache.font_path = g_strdup (font_path);
 
     if (!cache.blob)
-      fail (false, "%s: Failed reading file", font_path);
+      g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_FAILED,
+		   "%s: Failed reading file", font_path);
 
     hb_face_destroy (cache.face);
     cache.face = nullptr;
@@ -122,9 +110,8 @@ face_options_t::get_face () const
     cache.face_index = face_index;
   }
 
+  blob = cache.blob;
   face = cache.face;
-
-  return face;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/util/font-options.hh b/util/font-options.hh
index 36bdd85f9..fd63a3ceb 100644
--- a/util/font-options.hh
+++ b/util/font-options.hh
@@ -86,8 +86,6 @@ font_options_t::get_font () const
   if (font)
     return font;
 
-  auto *face = get_face ();
-
   font = hb_font_create (face);
 
   if (font_size_x == FONT_SIZE_UPEM)
diff --git a/util/hb-subset.cc b/util/hb-subset.cc
index f9ecca173..6664ed48c 100644
--- a/util/hb-subset.cc
+++ b/util/hb-subset.cc
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ struct subset_consumer_t : subset_options_t, output_options_t
 
   void init (const face_options_t *face_opts)
   {
-    face = hb_face_reference (face_opts->get_face ());
+    face = hb_face_reference (face_opts->face);
   }
 
   void consume_line (const char   *text,
diff --git a/util/helper-cairo.hh b/util/helper-cairo.hh
index e219e646b..19651b23b 100644
--- a/util/helper-cairo.hh
+++ b/util/helper-cairo.hh
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ helper_cairo_create_scaled_font (const font_options_t *font_opts)
     }
 
     unsigned int blob_length;
-    const char *blob_data = hb_blob_get_data (font_opts->get_blob (), &blob_length);
+    const char *blob_data = hb_blob_get_data (font_opts->blob, &blob_length);
 
     if (FT_New_Memory_Face (ft_library,
 			    (const FT_Byte *) blob_data,