diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font.h b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font.h
index 7f18075904..06d105b057 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font.h
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ EAPI int               evas_common_font_get_line_advance     (RGBA_Font *fn);
 EAPI void              evas_common_font_draw                 (RGBA_Image *dst, RGBA_Draw_Context *dc, RGBA_Font *fn, int x, int y, const Evas_Text_Props *intl_props);
 EAPI int               evas_common_font_glyph_search         (RGBA_Font *fn, RGBA_Font_Int **fi_ret, int gl);
 EAPI RGBA_Font_Glyph  *evas_common_font_int_cache_glyph_get  (RGBA_Font_Int *fi, FT_UInt index);
+EAPI FT_UInt           evas_common_get_char_index            (RGBA_Font_Int* fi, int gl);
 EAPI void              evas_common_font_draw_init            (void);
 
 /* load */
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font_draw.c b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font_draw.c
index f6c07ef55c..fc49f2e353 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font_draw.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_font_draw.c
@@ -290,8 +290,8 @@ struct _Font_Char_Index
    int gl;
 };
 
-static FT_UInt
-_evas_common_get_char_index(RGBA_Font_Int* fi, int gl)
+EAPI FT_UInt
+evas_common_get_char_index(RGBA_Font_Int* fi, int gl)
 {
    Font_Char_Index result;
    //FT_UInt ret;
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ evas_common_font_glyph_search(RGBA_Font *fn, RGBA_Font_Int **fi_ret, int gl)
 	  }
         if (fi->src->ft.face)
 	  {
-	     index = _evas_common_get_char_index(fi, gl);
+	     index = evas_common_get_char_index(fi, gl);
 	     if (index != 0)
 	       {
 		  if (!fi->ft.size)
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_text_utils.c b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_text_utils.c
index 7a90b973bb..f49eb9a1a4 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_text_utils.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/engines/common/evas_text_utils.c
@@ -233,9 +233,7 @@ evas_common_text_props_content_create(void *_fn, const Eina_Unicode *text,
         /* If we got a malformed index, show the replacement char instead */
         if (gl_itr->index == 0)
           {
-             /* FIXME: search inside the same fi. */
-             gl_itr->index =
-                evas_common_font_glyph_search(fn, &fi, REPLACEMENT_CHAR);
+             gl_itr->index = evas_common_get_char_index(fi, REPLACEMENT_CHAR);
              is_replacement = EINA_TRUE;
           }
         index = gl_itr->index;
@@ -328,10 +326,10 @@ evas_common_text_props_content_create(void *_fn, const Eina_Unicode *text,
         _gl = *text;
         if (_gl == 0) break;
 
-        index = evas_common_font_glyph_search(fn, &fi, _gl);
+        index = evas_common_get_char_index(fi, _gl);
         if (index == 0)
           {
-             index = evas_common_font_glyph_search(fn, &fi, REPLACEMENT_CHAR);
+             index = evas_common_get_char_index(fi, REPLACEMENT_CHAR);
           }
 
         /* Should we really set the size per fi? This fixes a bug for Korean