diff --git a/src/Grid.zig b/src/Grid.zig
index 69387a33c..8daca2b1d 100644
--- a/src/Grid.zig
+++ b/src/Grid.zig
@@ -579,8 +579,8 @@ pub fn updateCell(
         });
     }
 
-    // If the cell is empty then we draw nothing in the box.
-    if (!cell.empty()) {
+    // If the cell has a character, draw it
+    if (cell.char > 0) {
         // Render
         const face = self.font_group.group.faceFromIndex(shaper_run.font_index);
         const glyph = try self.font_group.renderGlyph(
diff --git a/src/font/Shaper.zig b/src/font/Shaper.zig
index 1e41f5c69..9063ae45b 100644
--- a/src/font/Shaper.zig
+++ b/src/font/Shaper.zig
@@ -276,6 +276,42 @@ test "run iterator" {
     }
 }
 
+test "run iterator: empty cells with background set" {
+    const testing = std.testing;
+    const alloc = testing.allocator;
+
+    var testdata = try testShaper(alloc);
+    defer testdata.deinit();
+
+    {
+        // Make a screen with some data
+        var screen = try terminal.Screen.init(alloc, 3, 5, 0);
+        defer screen.deinit();
+        try screen.testWriteString("A");
+
+        // Get our first row
+        const row = screen.getRow(.{ .active = 0 });
+        row.getCellPtr(1).bg = try terminal.color.Name.cyan.default();
+        row.getCellPtr(1).attrs.has_bg = true;
+        row.getCellPtr(2).fg = try terminal.color.Name.yellow.default();
+        row.getCellPtr(2).attrs.has_fg = true;
+
+        // Get our run iterator
+        var shaper = testdata.shaper;
+        var it = shaper.runIterator(testdata.cache, screen.getRow(.{ .screen = 0 }));
+        var count: usize = 0;
+        while (try it.next(alloc)) |run| {
+            count += 1;
+
+            // The run should have length 3 because of the two background
+            // cells.
+            try testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 3), shaper.hb_buf.getLength());
+            const cells = try shaper.shape(run);
+            try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 3), cells.len);
+        }
+        try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 1), count);
+    }
+}
 test "shape" {
     const testing = std.testing;
     const alloc = testing.allocator;
diff --git a/src/terminal/Screen.zig b/src/terminal/Screen.zig
index 821d64215..7652a7546 100644
--- a/src/terminal/Screen.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/Screen.zig
@@ -183,7 +183,14 @@ pub const Cell = struct {
 
     /// True if the cell should be skipped for drawing
     pub fn empty(self: Cell) bool {
-        return self.char == 0;
+        // Get our backing integer for our packed struct of attributes
+        const AttrInt = @Type(.{ .Int = .{
+            .signedness = .unsigned,
+            .bits = @bitSizeOf(@TypeOf(self.attrs)),
+        } });
+
+        // We're empty if we have no char AND we have no styling
+        return self.char == 0 and @bitCast(AttrInt, self.attrs) == 0;
     }
 
     /// The width of the cell.