diff --git a/app/text/gimpfont.c b/app/text/gimpfont.c
index cb4db309fc..485ab9a36e 100644
--- a/app/text/gimpfont.c
+++ b/app/text/gimpfont.c
@@ -351,14 +351,14 @@ gimp_font_get_standard (void)
 
 
 static inline gboolean
-gimp_font_covers_string (PangoFcFont *font,
+gimp_font_covers_string (PangoFont   *font,
                          const gchar *sample)
 {
   const gchar *p;
 
   for (p = sample; *p; p = g_utf8_next_char (p))
     {
-      if (! pango_fc_font_has_char (font, g_utf8_get_char (p)))
+      if (! pango_font_has_char (font, g_utf8_get_char (p)))
         return FALSE;
     }
 
@@ -733,8 +733,7 @@ gimp_font_get_sample_string (PangoContext         *context,
 #define TAG(s) FT_MAKE_TAG (s[0], s[1], s[2], s[3])
 
                   if (slist[j] == TAG (scripts[i].script) &&
-                      gimp_font_covers_string (PANGO_FC_FONT (font),
-                                               scripts[i].sample))
+                      gimp_font_covers_string (font, scripts[i].sample))
                     {
                       ot_alts[n_ot_alts++] = i;
                       DEBUGPRINT (("%.4s ", scripts[i].script));
@@ -765,8 +764,7 @@ gimp_font_get_sample_string (PangoContext         *context,
         {
           if (scripts[i].bit >= 0 &&
               (&os2->ulUnicodeRange1)[scripts[i].bit/32] & (1 << (scripts[i].bit % 32)) &&
-              gimp_font_covers_string (PANGO_FC_FONT (font),
-                                       scripts[i].sample))
+              gimp_font_covers_string (font, scripts[i].sample))
             {
               sr_alts[n_sr_alts++] = i;
               DEBUGPRINT (("%.4s ", scripts[i].script));
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ae780a72c8..c182fa453c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ m4_define([libpng_required_version], [1.6.25])
 m4_define([libunwind_required_version], [1.1.0])
 m4_define([openexr_required_version], [1.6.1])
 m4_define([openjpeg_required_version], [2.1.0])
-m4_define([pangocairo_required_version], [1.42.0])
+m4_define([pangocairo_required_version], [1.44.0])
 m4_define([perl_required_version], [5.10.0])
 m4_define([poppler_required_version], [0.69.0])
 m4_define([poppler_data_required_version], [0.4.9])
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index cba24b211b..2f5c94ad6d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ gmodule           = dependency('gmodule-no-export-2.0')
 
 gtk3_minver       = '3.16.10'
 gtk3              = dependency('gtk+-3.0',           version: '>='+gtk3_minver)
-harfbuzz_minver   = '0.9.19'
+harfbuzz_minver   = '1.0.5'
 harfbuzz          = dependency('harfbuzz',           version: '>='+harfbuzz_minver)
 json_glib         = dependency('json-glib-1.0',      version: '>=1.2.6')
 lcms_minver       = '2.8'
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ endif
 
 conf.set_quoted('MYPAINT_BRUSHES_DIR', mypaint_brushes_dir)
 
-pangocairo_minver = '1.42.0'
+pangocairo_minver = '1.44.0'
 pangocairo        = dependency('pangocairo',         version: '>='+pangocairo_minver)
 pangoft2          = dependency('pangoft2',           version: '>=1.29.4')
 rsvg_minver       = '2.40.6'