diff --git a/gtk/gtktext.c b/gtk/gtktext.c
index 2e4484c1f6..67400607a9 100644
--- a/gtk/gtktext.c
+++ b/gtk/gtktext.c
@@ -4354,6 +4354,8 @@ gtk_text_create_layout (GtkText  *self,
 
   tmp_attrs = gtk_css_style_get_pango_attributes (gtk_css_node_get_style (gtk_widget_get_css_node (widget)));
   tmp_attrs = _gtk_pango_attr_list_merge (tmp_attrs, priv->attrs);
+  if (!tmp_attrs)
+    tmp_attrs = pango_attr_list_new ();
 
   display_text = gtk_text_get_display_text (self, 0, -1);
 
@@ -4374,10 +4376,7 @@ gtk_text_create_layout (GtkText  *self,
       pos = g_utf8_offset_to_pointer (display_text, priv->current_pos) - display_text;
       g_string_insert (tmp_string, pos, preedit_string);
       pango_layout_set_text (layout, tmp_string->str, tmp_string->len);
-      if (tmp_attrs)
-        pango_attr_list_splice (tmp_attrs, preedit_attrs, pos, preedit_length);
-      else
-        tmp_attrs = pango_attr_list_ref (preedit_attrs);
+      pango_attr_list_splice (tmp_attrs, preedit_attrs, pos, preedit_length);
       g_string_free (tmp_string, TRUE);
     }
   else