diff --git a/utils/nik2img/nik2img.cpp b/utils/nik2img/nik2img.cpp
index 9657ac9db..3042e47c3 100644
--- a/utils/nik2img/nik2img.cpp
+++ b/utils/nik2img/nik2img.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <mapnik/image_util.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/graphics.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/datasource_cache.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp>
 #include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
 #include <boost/program_options.hpp>
 #include <string>
@@ -84,8 +85,9 @@ int main (int argc,char** argv)
         }
 
         mapnik::datasource_cache::instance().register_datasources("./plugins/input/");
+        mapnik::freetype_engine::register_fonts("./fonts",true);
         mapnik::Map map(600,400);
-        mapnik::load_map(map,xml_file);
+        mapnik::load_map(map,xml_file,true);
         map.zoom_all();
         mapnik::image_32 im(map.width(),map.height());
         mapnik::agg_renderer<mapnik::image_32> ren(map,im);