diff --git a/render.c b/render.c
index 3dd901be..5f2aff69 100644
--- a/render.c
+++ b/render.c
@@ -417,7 +417,8 @@ render_cell(struct terminal *term, pixman_image_t *pix,
     }
 
     struct font *font = attrs_to_font(term, &cell->attrs);
-    const struct glyph *glyph = font_glyph_for_wc(font, cell->wc);
+    const struct glyph *glyph = cell->wc != 0
+        ? font_glyph_for_wc(font, cell->wc) : NULL;
 
     int cell_cols = glyph != NULL ? max(1, glyph->cols) : 1;