diff --git a/font_configurator/font_configurator.py b/font_configurator/font_configurator.py
index 22bd343..9c4c262 100644
--- a/font_configurator/font_configurator.py
+++ b/font_configurator/font_configurator.py
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 
 gi.require_version("Pango", "1.0")
 gi.require_version("PangoCairo", "1.0")
+# Pillow's FreeType must be loaded before Pango: GI loads Pango with RTLD_GLOBAL, after which Pillow's
+# bundled FreeType/HarfBuzz would bind to the system libraries and corrupt SignWriting rendering.
+# See https://github.com/sign/pixel-renderer/issues/16
+from PIL import ImageFont  # noqa: E402, F401, I001
 from gi.repository import Pango, PangoCairo  # type: ignore  # noqa: E402, F401
 
 FONTCONFIG_CACHE_DIR = pathlib.Path(user_cache_dir("font_configurator"))
diff --git a/pixel_renderer/renderer.py b/pixel_renderer/renderer.py
index 868fa39..25c7a84 100644
--- a/pixel_renderer/renderer.py
+++ b/pixel_renderer/renderer.py
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
 gi.require_version("Pango", "1.0")
 gi.require_version("PangoCairo", "1.0")
 gi.require_foreign("cairo")
+# Pillow's FreeType must be loaded before Pango: GI loads Pango with RTLD_GLOBAL, after which Pillow's
+# bundled FreeType/HarfBuzz would bind to the system libraries and corrupt SignWriting rendering.
+# See https://github.com/sign/pixel-renderer/issues/16
+from PIL import ImageFont  # noqa: E402, F401, I001
 from gi.repository import Pango, PangoCairo  # noqa: E402
 
 # Reusable measurement context - avoids creating new surface/context/layout per call
diff --git a/tests/pixel_renderer/test_freetype_isolation.py b/tests/pixel_renderer/test_freetype_isolation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7d37e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pixel_renderer/test_freetype_isolation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+FREETYPE_VERSION = "from PIL import ImageFont, features; print(features.version('freetype2'))"
+
+
+def freetype_version_after(setup: str) -> str:
+    code = f"{setup}\n{FREETYPE_VERSION}"
+    return subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-c", code], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True).stdout.strip()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("module", ["pixel_renderer", "pixel_renderer.renderer", "font_configurator.font_configurator"])
+def test_pillow_keeps_its_own_freetype(module):
+    """Pillow must not bind to the system FreeType loaded by Pango (issue #16)."""
+    assert freetype_version_after(f"import {module}") == freetype_version_after("")