diff --git a/src/font/DeferredFace.zig b/src/font/DeferredFace.zig
index 8a5767518..de4293ba1 100644
--- a/src/font/DeferredFace.zig
+++ b/src/font/DeferredFace.zig
@@ -83,9 +83,13 @@ pub const WebCanvas = struct {
 pub fn deinit(self: *DeferredFace) void {
     switch (options.backend) {
         .fontconfig_freetype => if (self.fc) |*fc| fc.deinit(),
-        .coretext, .coretext_freetype, .coretext_harfbuzz => if (self.ct) |*ct| ct.deinit(),
         .freetype => {},
         .web_canvas => if (self.wc) |*wc| wc.deinit(),
+        .coretext,
+        .coretext_freetype,
+        .coretext_harfbuzz,
+        .coretext_noshape,
+        => if (self.ct) |*ct| ct.deinit(),
     }
     self.* = undefined;
 }
@@ -98,7 +102,11 @@ pub fn familyName(self: DeferredFace, buf: []u8) ![]const u8 {
         .fontconfig_freetype => if (self.fc) |fc|
             return (try fc.pattern.get(.family, 0)).string,
 
-        .coretext, .coretext_freetype, .coretext_harfbuzz => if (self.ct) |ct| {
+        .coretext,
+        .coretext_freetype,
+        .coretext_harfbuzz,
+        .coretext_noshape,
+        => if (self.ct) |ct| {
             const family_name = ct.font.copyAttribute(.family_name);
             return family_name.cstringPtr(.utf8) orelse unsupported: {
                 break :unsupported family_name.cstring(buf, .utf8) orelse
@@ -121,7 +129,11 @@ pub fn name(self: DeferredFace, buf: []u8) ![]const u8 {
         .fontconfig_freetype => if (self.fc) |fc|
             return (try fc.pattern.get(.fullname, 0)).string,
 
-        .coretext, .coretext_freetype, .coretext_harfbuzz => if (self.ct) |ct| {
+        .coretext,
+        .coretext_freetype,
+        .coretext_harfbuzz,
+        .coretext_noshape,
+        => if (self.ct) |ct| {
             const display_name = ct.font.copyDisplayName();
             return display_name.cstringPtr(.utf8) orelse unsupported: {
                 // "NULL if the internal storage of theString does not allow
@@ -147,7 +159,7 @@ pub fn load(
 ) !Face {
     return switch (options.backend) {
         .fontconfig_freetype => try self.loadFontconfig(lib, opts),
-        .coretext, .coretext_harfbuzz => try self.loadCoreText(lib, opts),
+        .coretext, .coretext_harfbuzz, .coretext_noshape => try self.loadCoreText(lib, opts),
         .coretext_freetype => try self.loadCoreTextFreetype(lib, opts),
         .web_canvas => try self.loadWebCanvas(opts),
 
@@ -262,7 +274,11 @@ pub fn hasCodepoint(self: DeferredFace, cp: u32, p: ?Presentation) bool {
             }
         },
 
-        .coretext, .coretext_freetype, .coretext_harfbuzz => {
+        .coretext,
+        .coretext_freetype,
+        .coretext_harfbuzz,
+        .coretext_noshape,
+        => {
             // If we are using coretext, we check the loaded CT font.
             if (self.ct) |ct| {
                 if (p) |desired_p| {
diff --git a/src/font/discovery.zig b/src/font/discovery.zig
index b21d374f5..0259200c9 100644
--- a/src/font/discovery.zig
+++ b/src/font/discovery.zig
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ const log = std.log.scoped(.discovery);
 pub const Discover = switch (options.backend) {
     .freetype => void, // no discovery
     .fontconfig_freetype => Fontconfig,
-    .coretext, .coretext_freetype, .coretext_harfbuzz => CoreText,
     .web_canvas => void, // no discovery
+    .coretext,
+    .coretext_freetype,
+    .coretext_harfbuzz,
+    .coretext_noshape,
+    => CoreText,
 };
 
 /// Descriptor is used to search for fonts. The only required field
diff --git a/src/font/face.zig b/src/font/face.zig
index 6d5f80169..815629b44 100644
--- a/src/font/face.zig
+++ b/src/font/face.zig
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@ pub const Face = switch (options.backend) {
     .coretext_freetype,
     => freetype.Face,
 
-    .coretext, .coretext_harfbuzz => coretext.Face,
+    .coretext,
+    .coretext_harfbuzz,
+    .coretext_noshape,
+    => coretext.Face,
+
     .web_canvas => web_canvas.Face,
 };
 
diff --git a/src/font/library.zig b/src/font/library.zig
index 8f72c4fb8..57e11e64a 100644
--- a/src/font/library.zig
+++ b/src/font/library.zig
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ pub const Library = switch (options.backend) {
     // Some backends such as CT and Canvas don't have a "library"
     .coretext,
     .coretext_harfbuzz,
+    .coretext_noshape,
     .web_canvas,
     => NoopLibrary,
 };
diff --git a/src/font/main.zig b/src/font/main.zig
index 72c3aa9cf..a287d9a06 100644
--- a/src/font/main.zig
+++ b/src/font/main.zig
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ pub const Backend = enum {
     /// CoreText for font discovery and rendering, HarfBuzz for shaping
     coretext_harfbuzz,
 
+    /// CoreText for font discovery and rendering, no shaping.
+    coretext_noshape,
+
     /// Use the browser font system and the Canvas API (wasm). This limits
     /// the available fonts to browser fonts (anything Canvas natively
     /// supports).
@@ -97,6 +100,7 @@ pub const Backend = enum {
 
             .coretext,
             .coretext_harfbuzz,
+            .coretext_noshape,
             .web_canvas,
             => false,
         };
@@ -107,6 +111,7 @@ pub const Backend = enum {
             .coretext,
             .coretext_freetype,
             .coretext_harfbuzz,
+            .coretext_noshape,
             => true,
 
             .freetype,
@@ -124,6 +129,7 @@ pub const Backend = enum {
             .coretext,
             .coretext_freetype,
             .coretext_harfbuzz,
+            .coretext_noshape,
             .web_canvas,
             => false,
         };
@@ -138,6 +144,7 @@ pub const Backend = enum {
             => true,
 
             .coretext,
+            .coretext_noshape,
             .web_canvas,
             => false,
         };
diff --git a/src/font/shape.zig b/src/font/shape.zig
index 1e5dd1a9f..e633c15c9 100644
--- a/src/font/shape.zig
+++ b/src/font/shape.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const options = @import("main.zig").options;
+pub const noop = @import("shaper/noop.zig");
 pub const harfbuzz = @import("shaper/harfbuzz.zig");
 pub const coretext = @import("shaper/coretext.zig");
 pub const web_canvas = @import("shaper/web_canvas.zig");
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@ pub const Shaper = switch (options.backend) {
     // font faces.
     .coretext => coretext.Shaper,
 
+    .coretext_noshape => noop.Shaper,
+
     .web_canvas => web_canvas.Shaper,
 };
 
@@ -61,4 +64,7 @@ pub const Options = struct {
 test {
     _ = Cache;
     _ = Shaper;
+
+    // Always test noop
+    _ = noop;
 }
diff --git a/src/font/shaper/noop.zig b/src/font/shaper/noop.zig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..310b5cf40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/font/shaper/noop.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const assert = std.debug.assert;
+const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
+const trace = @import("tracy").trace;
+const font = @import("../main.zig");
+const Face = font.Face;
+const Collection = font.Collection;
+const DeferredFace = font.DeferredFace;
+const Group = font.Group;
+const GroupCache = font.GroupCache;
+const Library = font.Library;
+const SharedGrid = font.SharedGrid;
+const Style = font.Style;
+const Presentation = font.Presentation;
+const terminal = @import("../../terminal/main.zig");
+
+const log = std.log.scoped(.font_shaper);
+
+/// Shaper that doesn't do any shaping. Each individual codepoint is mapped
+/// directly to the detected text run font's glyph index.
+pub const Shaper = struct {
+    /// The allocated used for the feature list and cell buf.
+    alloc: Allocator,
+
+    /// The string used for shaping the current run.
+    run_state: RunState,
+
+    /// The shared memory used for shaping results.
+    cell_buf: CellBuf,
+
+    const CellBuf = std.ArrayListUnmanaged(font.shape.Cell);
+    const CodepointList = std.ArrayListUnmanaged(Codepoint);
+    const Codepoint = struct {
+        codepoint: u32,
+        cluster: u32,
+    };
+
+    const RunState = struct {
+        codepoints: CodepointList = .{},
+
+        fn deinit(self: *RunState, alloc: Allocator) void {
+            self.codepoints.deinit(alloc);
+        }
+
+        fn reset(self: *RunState) !void {
+            self.codepoints.clearRetainingCapacity();
+        }
+    };
+
+    /// The cell_buf argument is the buffer to use for storing shaped results.
+    /// This should be at least the number of columns in the terminal.
+    pub fn init(alloc: Allocator, opts: font.shape.Options) !Shaper {
+        _ = opts;
+
+        return Shaper{
+            .alloc = alloc,
+            .cell_buf = .{},
+            .run_state = .{},
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn deinit(self: *Shaper) void {
+        self.cell_buf.deinit(self.alloc);
+        self.run_state.deinit(self.alloc);
+    }
+
+    pub fn runIterator(
+        self: *Shaper,
+        grid: *SharedGrid,
+        screen: *const terminal.Screen,
+        row: terminal.Pin,
+        selection: ?terminal.Selection,
+        cursor_x: ?usize,
+    ) font.shape.RunIterator {
+        return .{
+            .hooks = .{ .shaper = self },
+            .grid = grid,
+            .screen = screen,
+            .row = row,
+            .selection = selection,
+            .cursor_x = cursor_x,
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn shape(self: *Shaper, run: font.shape.TextRun) ![]const font.shape.Cell {
+        const state = &self.run_state;
+
+        // Special fonts aren't shaped and their codepoint == glyph so we
+        // can just return the codepoints as-is.
+        if (run.font_index.special() != null) {
+            self.cell_buf.clearRetainingCapacity();
+            try self.cell_buf.ensureTotalCapacity(self.alloc, state.codepoints.items.len);
+            for (state.codepoints.items) |entry| {
+                self.cell_buf.appendAssumeCapacity(.{
+                    .x = @intCast(entry.cluster),
+                    .glyph_index = @intCast(entry.codepoint),
+                });
+            }
+
+            return self.cell_buf.items;
+        }
+
+        // Go through the run and map each codepoint to a glyph index.
+        self.cell_buf.clearRetainingCapacity();
+
+        // Note: this is digging into some internal details, we should maybe
+        // expose a public API for this.
+        const face = try run.grid.resolver.collection.getFace(run.font_index);
+        for (state.codepoints.items) |entry| {
+            const glyph_index = face.glyphIndex(entry.codepoint);
+            try self.cell_buf.append(self.alloc, .{
+                .x = @intCast(entry.cluster),
+                .glyph_index = glyph_index,
+            });
+        }
+
+        return self.cell_buf.items;
+    }
+
+    /// The hooks for RunIterator.
+    pub const RunIteratorHook = struct {
+        shaper: *Shaper,
+
+        pub fn prepare(self: *RunIteratorHook) !void {
+            try self.shaper.run_state.reset();
+        }
+
+        pub fn addCodepoint(self: RunIteratorHook, cp: u32, cluster: u32) !void {
+            try self.shaper.run_state.codepoints.append(self.shaper.alloc, .{
+                .codepoint = cp,
+                .cluster = cluster,
+            });
+        }
+
+        pub fn finalize(self: RunIteratorHook) !void {
+            _ = self;
+        }
+    };
+};
+
+test {
+    @import("std").testing.refAllDecls(@This());
+}