diff --git a/benchmark/test_font_registration.cpp b/benchmark/test_font_registration.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2c57ac328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark/test_font_registration.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#include "bench_framework.hpp"
+#include <mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp>
+#include <boost/format.hpp>
+#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
+
+class test : public benchmark::test_case
+{
+public:
+    test(mapnik::parameters const& params)
+     : test_case(params) {}
+    bool validate() const
+    {
+        return mapnik::freetype_engine::register_fonts("./fonts", true);
+    }
+    void operator()() const
+    {
+        unsigned long count = 0;
+        for (unsigned i=0;i<iterations_;++i)
+        {
+            mapnik::freetype_engine::register_fonts("./fonts", true);
+            count++;
+        }
+    }
+};
+
+BENCHMARK(test,"font registration")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
index e493dde5d..17694a409 100644
--- a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
+++ b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
@@ -88,11 +88,32 @@ bool freetype_engine::is_font_file(std::string const& file_name)
         boost::algorithm::ends_with(fn,std::string(".dfont"));
 }
 
+unsigned long ft_read_cb(FT_Stream stream, unsigned long offset, unsigned char *buffer, unsigned long count) {
+    if (count <= 0) return count;
+    std::ifstream * file = static_cast<std::ifstream *>(stream->descriptor.pointer);
+    file->seekg(offset, std::ios::beg);
+    file->read((char*)buffer, count);
+    return file->gcount();
+}
+
+void ft_close_cb(FT_Stream stream) {
+    std::ifstream * file = static_cast<std::ifstream *>(stream->descriptor.pointer);
+    file->close();
+}
+
 bool freetype_engine::register_font(std::string const& file_name)
 {
 #ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
     mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
 #endif
+
+    std::ifstream file(file_name.c_str() , std::ios::binary);
+    if (!file.good()) {
+        std::ostringstream s;
+        s << "Unable to open font file '" << file_name << "' ";
+        throw std::runtime_error(s.str().c_str());
+    }
+
     FT_Library library = 0;
     FT_Error error = FT_Init_FreeType(&library);
     if (error)
@@ -101,6 +122,24 @@ bool freetype_engine::register_font(std::string const& file_name)
     }
 
     FT_Face face = 0;
+    FT_Open_Args args;
+    FT_StreamRec streamRec;
+    memset(&args, 0, sizeof(args));
+    memset(&streamRec, 0, sizeof(streamRec));
+    std::streampos beg = file.tellg();
+    file.seekg (0, std::ios::end);
+    std::streampos end = file.tellg();
+    std::size_t file_size = end - beg;
+    file.seekg (0, std::ios::beg);
+
+    streamRec.base = 0;
+    streamRec.pos = 0;
+    streamRec.size = file_size;
+    streamRec.descriptor.pointer = &file;
+    streamRec.read  = ft_read_cb;
+    streamRec.close = ft_close_cb;
+    args.flags = FT_OPEN_STREAM;
+    args.stream = &streamRec;
     int num_faces = 0;
     bool success = false;
     // some font files have multiple fonts in a file
@@ -108,7 +147,7 @@ bool freetype_engine::register_font(std::string const& file_name)
     // see the FT_FaceRec in freetype.h
     for ( int i = 0; face == 0 || i < num_faces; i++ ) {
         // if face is null then this is the first face
-        error = FT_New_Face (library,file_name.c_str(),i,&face);
+        error = FT_Open_Face(library, &args, i, &face);
         if (error)
         {
             break;