diff --git a/drw.c b/drw.c
index a58a2b4..75b94c0 100644
--- a/drw.c
+++ b/drw.c
@@ -133,6 +133,20 @@ xfont_create(Drw *drw, const char *fontname, FcPattern *fontpattern)
 		die("no font specified.");
 	}
 
+    // FIX for ubuntu 22.04
+	/* Do not allow using color fonts. This is a workaround for a BadLength
+	 * error from Xft with color glyphs. Modelled on the Xterm workaround. See
+	 * https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1498269
+	 * https://lists.suckless.org/dev/1701/30932.html
+	 * https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=916349
+	 * and lots more all over the internet.
+	 */
+	FcBool iscol;
+	if(FcPatternGetBool(xfont->pattern, FC_COLOR, 0, &iscol) == FcResultMatch && iscol) {
+		XftFontClose(drw->dpy, xfont);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	font = ecalloc(1, sizeof(Fnt));
 	font->xfont = xfont;
 	font->pattern = pattern;