diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 29380684..bda563dd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -59,10 +59,13 @@
   `footclient` now tries `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/foot.sock`, then
   `/tmp/foot.sock`, even if `$WAYLAND_DISPLAY` and/or
   `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` are defined ([#1281][1281]).
+* Font baseline calculation: try to center the text within the line,
+  instead of anchoring it at the top ([#1302][1302]).
 
 [starlight-v4]: https://github.com/CosmicToast/starlight/blob/v4/CHANGELOG.md#v4
 [1416]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/1416
 [1281]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/pulls/1281
+[1302]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/1302
 
 
 ### Deprecated
diff --git a/render.c b/render.c
index 11c2456a..48957a0a 100644
--- a/render.c
+++ b/render.c
@@ -305,7 +305,12 @@ color_brighten(const struct terminal *term, uint32_t color)
 static inline int
 font_baseline(const struct terminal *term)
 {
-    return term->font_y_ofs + term->fonts[0]->ascent;
+    const struct fcft_font *font = term->fonts[0];
+    const int line_height = term->cell_height;
+    const int font_height = font->ascent + font->descent;
+    const int glyph_top_y = round((line_height - font_height) / 2.);
+
+    return term->font_y_ofs + glyph_top_y + font->ascent;
 }
 
 static void