diff --git a/src/hb-cairo.cc b/src/hb-cairo.cc
index c8e15a047..7b4d529b3 100644
--- a/src/hb-cairo.cc
+++ b/src/hb-cairo.cc
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ hb_cairo_init_scaled_font (cairo_scaled_font_t  *scaled_font,
     {
       void *user_data = cairo_font_face_get_user_data (font_face,
 						       &hb_cairo_font_init_user_data_user_data_key);
-      init_func (font, scaled_font, user_data);
+      font = init_func (font, scaled_font, user_data);
     }
 
     hb_font_make_immutable (font);
diff --git a/src/hb-cairo.h b/src/hb-cairo.h
index 76469e941..cb7e53e5a 100644
--- a/src/hb-cairo.h
+++ b/src/hb-cairo.h
@@ -55,11 +55,13 @@ hb_cairo_font_face_get_face (cairo_font_face_t *font_face);
  * face created using hb_cairo_font_face_create_for_face()
  * creates an #hb_font_t for a #cairo_scaled_font_t.
  *
+ * Return value: the #hb_font_t value to use; in most cases same as @font
+ *
  * Since: REPLACEME
  */
-typedef void (*hb_cairo_font_init_func_t) (hb_font_t *font,
-					   cairo_scaled_font_t *scaled_font,
-					   void *user_data);
+typedef hb_font_t * (*hb_cairo_font_init_func_t) (hb_font_t *font,
+						  cairo_scaled_font_t *scaled_font,
+						  void *user_data);
 
 HB_EXTERN void
 hb_cairo_font_face_set_font_init_func (cairo_font_face_t *font_face,