diff --git a/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp b/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
index 5019b1363..a6cc7ea9c 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace mapnik
 class stroker;
 using stroker_ptr = std::shared_ptr<stroker>;
 class font_face_set;
-using face_set_ptr = std::shared_ptr<font_face_set>;
+using face_set_ptr = std::unique_ptr<font_face_set>;
 class font_face;
 using face_ptr = std::shared_ptr<font_face>;
 
diff --git a/include/mapnik/text/face.hpp b/include/mapnik/text/face.hpp
index 0a4908ff0..78b2b74c6 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/text/face.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/text/face.hpp
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public:
 private:
     std::vector<face_ptr> faces_;
 };
-using face_set_ptr = std::shared_ptr<font_face_set>;
+using face_set_ptr = std::unique_ptr<font_face_set>;
 
 
 // FT_Stroker wrapper
diff --git a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
index c5bc74051..a1d11fd7c 100644
--- a/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
+++ b/src/font_engine_freetype.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <mapnik/util/fs.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/util/file_io.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/utils.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/make_unique.hpp>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/algorithm/string/predicate.hpp>
@@ -361,7 +362,7 @@ face_ptr face_manager<T>::get_face(std::string const& name)
 template <typename T>
 face_set_ptr face_manager<T>::get_face_set(std::string const& name)
 {
-    face_set_ptr face_set = std::make_shared<font_face_set>();
+    face_set_ptr face_set = std::make_unique<font_face_set>();
     if (face_ptr face = get_face(name))
     {
         face_set->add(face);
@@ -373,7 +374,7 @@ template <typename T>
 face_set_ptr face_manager<T>::get_face_set(font_set const& fset)
 {
     std::vector<std::string> const& names = fset.get_face_names();
-    face_set_ptr face_set = std::make_shared<font_face_set>();
+    face_set_ptr face_set = std::make_unique<font_face_set>();
     for (auto const& name  : names)
     {
         face_ptr face = get_face(name);