diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 5b2b1a09e..d65553c05 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 CHANGES IN FLTK 1.1.8
 
+	- Added access to Xft font pointer (STR #1328)
 	- Fixed endianness in OS X mouse cursor graphics
 	  (STR #1348)
 	- Fixed crash on mixed use of keyboard and mouse for
diff --git a/FL/x.H b/FL/x.H
index 91cbb9487..37194bc2b 100644
--- a/FL/x.H
+++ b/FL/x.H
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ extern FL_EXPORT Colormap fl_colormap;
 extern FL_EXPORT GC fl_gc;
 extern FL_EXPORT Window fl_window;
 extern FL_EXPORT XFontStruct* fl_xfont;
+extern FL_EXPORT void *fl_xftfont;
 FL_EXPORT ulong fl_xpixel(Fl_Color i);
 FL_EXPORT ulong fl_xpixel(uchar r, uchar g, uchar b);
 FL_EXPORT void fl_clip_region(Fl_Region);
diff --git a/documentation/osissues.html b/documentation/osissues.html
index 3d5b9d767..95050cf0b 100644
--- a/documentation/osissues.html
+++ b/documentation/osissues.html
@@ -139,7 +139,17 @@ href="drawing.html#fl_color"><TT>fl_color()</TT></A> would use.
 href="drawing.html#fl_font"><TT>fl_font()</TT></A>. This is not
 necessarily the current font of <TT>fl_gc</TT>, which is not set
 until <A href="drawing.html#text"><TT>fl_draw()</TT></A> is
-called.
+called. If FLTK was compiled with Xft support, <TT>fl_xfont</TT>
+will usually be 0 and <TT>fl_xftfont</TT> will contain a pointer 
+to the XftFont structure instead.
+
+<H4><A name="fl_xftfont">extern void *fl_xftfont</A></H4>
+
+<P>If FLTK was compiled with Xft support enabled, <tt>fl_xftfont</tt>
+Points to the xft font selected by the most recent <A
+href="drawing.html#fl_font"><TT>fl_font()</TT></A>. Otherwise 
+it will be 0. <tt>fl_xftfont</tt> should be casted to 
+<tt>XftFont*</tt>.
 
 <H3>Changing the Display, Screen, or X Visual</H3>
 
diff --git a/src/fl_font_x.cxx b/src/fl_font_x.cxx
index 6540cc275..2723a2197 100644
--- a/src/fl_font_x.cxx
+++ b/src/fl_font_x.cxx
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ static Fl_FontSize* find(int fnum, int size) {
 int fl_font_ = 0;
 int fl_size_ = 0;
 XFontStruct* fl_xfont = 0;
+void *fl_xftfont = 0;
 static GC font_gc;
 
 void fl_font(int fnum, int size) {
diff --git a/src/fl_font_xft.cxx b/src/fl_font_xft.cxx
index 1c6a451da..71fb3736d 100644
--- a/src/fl_font_xft.cxx
+++ b/src/fl_font_xft.cxx
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ Fl_Fontdesc* fl_fonts = built_in_table;
 int fl_font_ = 0;
 int fl_size_ = 0;
 XFontStruct* fl_xfont = 0;
+void *fl_xftfont = 0;
 const char* fl_encoding_ = "iso8859-1";
 Fl_FontSize* fl_fontsize = 0;
 
@@ -116,6 +117,7 @@ void fl_font(int fnum, int size) {
 #if XFT_MAJOR < 2
   fl_xfont    = f->font->u.core.font;
 #endif // XFT_MAJOR < 2
+  fl_xftfont = (void*)f->font;
 }
 
 static XftFont* fontopen(const char* name, bool core) {