diff --git a/testsuite/gsk/fonts/fonts.conf b/testsuite/gsk/fonts/fonts.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26d218edd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/gsk/fonts/fonts.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "urn:fontconfig:fonts.dtd">
+<fontconfig>
+  <cachedir>/tmp/cache</cachedir>
+  <dir prefix="relative">.</dir>
+  <include>/etc/fonts/fonts.conf</include>
+</fontconfig>
diff --git a/testsuite/gsk/meson.build b/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
index 8891379cdb..398962ca7f 100644
--- a/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
+++ b/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ foreach renderer : renderers
       'GSK_RENDERER=' + renderer_name,
       'GTK_A11Y=test',
       'G_TEST_SRCDIR=@0@'.format(meson.current_source_dir()),
-      'G_TEST_BUILDDIR=@0@'.format(meson.current_build_dir())
+      'G_TEST_BUILDDIR=@0@'.format(meson.current_build_dir()),
+      'FONTCONFIG_FILE=@0@/fonts/fonts.conf'.format(meson.current_source_dir())
     ]
 
     if ((not testname.contains(exclude_term)) and