diff --git a/gsk/gl/gskglrenderer.c b/gsk/gl/gskglrenderer.c
index b39edcca4f..5c6d8b3ad1 100644
--- a/gsk/gl/gskglrenderer.c
+++ b/gsk/gl/gskglrenderer.c
@@ -537,18 +537,19 @@ render_fallback_node (GskGLRenderer       *self,
 
 typedef struct {
   int timestamp;
+  int stored;
   GskGLCachedGlyph *glyphs[];
 } TextRenderData;
 
 static inline TextRenderData *
-ensure_render_data (GskRenderNode *node,
-                    GskGLGlyphCache *cache)
+get_render_data (GskRenderNode   *node,
+                 GskGLGlyphCache *cache)
 {
   TextRenderData *data;
   int num_glyphs;
 
   num_glyphs = gsk_text_node_get_num_glyphs (node);
-  data = gsk_text_node_get_render_data (node);
+  data = gsk_text_node_get_render_data (node, cache);
   if (data)
     {
       if (data->timestamp < cache->atlas_timestamp)
@@ -561,13 +562,24 @@ ensure_render_data (GskRenderNode *node,
     {
       data = g_new0 (TextRenderData, sizeof (TextRenderData) + sizeof (gpointer) * num_glyphs);
       data->timestamp = cache->atlas_timestamp;
-
-      gsk_text_node_set_render_data (node, data);
     }
 
   return data;
 }
 
+static inline void
+set_render_data (GskRenderNode   *node,
+                 GskGLGlyphCache *cache,
+                 TextRenderData  *data)
+{
+  if (!data->stored)
+    {
+      data->stored = 1;
+      if (!gsk_text_node_set_render_data (node, cache, data))
+        g_free (data);
+    }
+}
+
 static inline void
 render_text_node (GskGLRenderer   *self,
                   GskRenderNode   *node,
@@ -598,7 +610,7 @@ render_text_node (GskGLRenderer   *self,
       ops_set_color (builder, color);
     }
 
-  render_data = ensure_render_data (node, self->glyph_cache);
+  render_data = get_render_data (node, self->glyph_cache);
 
   memset (&lookup, 0, sizeof (CacheKeyData));
   lookup.data.font = (PangoFont *)font;
@@ -663,6 +675,8 @@ render_text_node (GskGLRenderer   *self,
 next:
       x_position += gi->geometry.width;
     }
+
+  set_render_data (node, self->glyph_cache, render_data);
 }
 
 static inline void
diff --git a/gsk/gskrendernodeimpl.c b/gsk/gskrendernodeimpl.c
index c362a6fa53..7625c68071 100644
--- a/gsk/gskrendernodeimpl.c
+++ b/gsk/gskrendernodeimpl.c
@@ -3414,7 +3414,9 @@ struct _GskTextNode
   GdkRGBA color;
   graphene_point_t offset;
 
+  gpointer render_key;
   gpointer render_data;
+
   guint num_glyphs;
   PangoGlyphInfo glyphs[];
 };
@@ -3547,6 +3549,7 @@ gsk_text_node_new (PangoFont              *font,
   self->has_color_glyphs = font_has_color_glyphs (font);
   self->color = *color;
   self->offset = *offset;
+  self->render_key = NULL;
   self->render_data = NULL;
   self->num_glyphs = glyphs->num_glyphs;
   memcpy (self->glyphs, glyphs->glyphs, sizeof (PangoGlyphInfo) * glyphs->num_glyphs);
@@ -3628,20 +3631,31 @@ gsk_text_node_get_offset (GskRenderNode *node)
   return &self->offset;
 }
 
-void
+gboolean
 gsk_text_node_set_render_data (GskRenderNode *node,
+                               gpointer       key,
                                gpointer       data)
 {
   GskTextNode *self = (GskTextNode *) node;
 
+  if (self->render_key != NULL)
+    return FALSE;
+
+  self->render_key = key;
   self->render_data = data;
+
+  return TRUE;
 }
 
 gpointer
-gsk_text_node_get_render_data (GskRenderNode *node)
+gsk_text_node_get_render_data (GskRenderNode *node,
+                               gpointer       key)
 {
   GskTextNode *self = (GskTextNode *) node;
 
+  if (self->render_key != key)
+    return NULL;
+
   return self->render_data;
 }
 
diff --git a/gsk/gskrendernodeprivate.h b/gsk/gskrendernodeprivate.h
index f2fe034444..9ab3358393 100644
--- a/gsk/gskrendernodeprivate.h
+++ b/gsk/gskrendernodeprivate.h
@@ -46,9 +46,11 @@ void            gsk_render_node_diff             (GskRenderNode             *nod
 void            gsk_render_node_diff_impossible  (GskRenderNode             *node1,
                                                   GskRenderNode             *node2,
                                                   cairo_region_t            *region);
-void            gsk_text_node_set_render_data    (GskRenderNode *node,
+gboolean        gsk_text_node_set_render_data    (GskRenderNode *node,
+                                                  gpointer       key,
                                                   gpointer       data);
-gpointer        gsk_text_node_get_render_data    (GskRenderNode *node);
+gpointer        gsk_text_node_get_render_data    (GskRenderNode *node,
+                                                  gpointer       key);