diff --git a/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase.cpp b/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase.cpp
index fd02b806195..e941614b4fa 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ QFontEngine *QFreeTypeFontDatabase::fontEngine(const QFontDef &fontDef, void *us
     faceId.filename = QFile::encodeName(fontfile->fileName);
     faceId.index = fontfile->indexValue;
 
-    return QFontEngineFT::create(fontDef, faceId);
+    return QFontEngineFT::create(fontDef, faceId, fontfile->data);
 }
 
 QFontEngine *QFreeTypeFontDatabase::fontEngine(const QByteArray &fontData, qreal pixelSize,
@@ -191,9 +191,11 @@ QStringList QFreeTypeFontDatabase::addTTFile(const QByteArray &fontData, const Q
         }
 
         QString family = QString::fromLatin1(face->family_name);
-        FontFile *fontFile = new FontFile;
-        fontFile->fileName = QFile::decodeName(file);
-        fontFile->indexValue = index;
+        FontFile *fontFile = new FontFile{
+            QFile::decodeName(file),
+            index,
+            fontData
+        };
 
         QString styleName = QString::fromLatin1(face->style_name);
 
diff --git a/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase_p.h b/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase_p.h
index f9ad0824b96..ffb10a2e5c9 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase_p.h
+++ b/src/gui/text/freetype/qfreetypefontdatabase_p.h
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ struct FontFile
 {
     QString fileName;
     int indexValue;
+
+    // Note: The data may be implicitly shared throughout the
+    // font database and platform font database, so be careful
+    // to never detach when accessing this member!
+    const QByteArray data;
 };
 
 class Q_GUI_EXPORT QFreeTypeFontDatabase : public QPlatformFontDatabase
diff --git a/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase_p.h b/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase_p.h
index b40a651bbb3..5428e18071f 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase_p.h
+++ b/src/gui/text/qfontdatabase_p.h
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ public:
     QCache<QtFontFallbacksCacheKey, QStringList> fallbacksCache;
     struct ApplicationFont {
         QString fileName;
+
+        // Note: The data may be implicitly shared throughout the
+        // font database and platform font database, so be careful
+        // to never detach when accessing this member!
         QByteArray data;
 
         bool isNull() const { return fileName.isEmpty(); }