diff --git a/util/helper-cairo.hh b/util/helper-cairo.hh
index 6df92e560..37bde1896 100644
--- a/util/helper-cairo.hh
+++ b/util/helper-cairo.hh
@@ -71,7 +71,17 @@ helper_cairo_use_hb_draw (const font_options_t *font_opts)
 {
   const char *env = getenv ("HB_DRAW");
   if (!env)
+#if 1
+    /* Following branch disabled because we prefer our
+     * OpenType extensions working, ie going through hb-draw,
+     * over avoiding the obscure cairo bug. */
+    return true;
+#else
+    /* Older cairo had a bug in rendering COLRv0 fonts in
+     * right-to-left direction. */
     return cairo_version () >= CAIRO_VERSION_ENCODE (1, 17, 5);
+#endif
+
   return atoi (env);
 }