diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f4f2f0b5..ae06ebb0a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ FetchContent_Declare(OpenXR-SDK
 FetchContent_Declare(SPIRV-Cross
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/BabylonJS/SPIRV-Cross.git
     GIT_TAG 578a291759db6fe7c3f4735d3512c0526ad18efc)
+FetchContent_Declare(FreeType
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/freetype/freetype.git
+    GIT_TAG 2d1abd3bbb4d2396ed63b3e5accd66724cf62307)
 # --------------------------------------------------
 
 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(CMakeExtensions)
diff --git a/Polyfills/Canvas/CMakeLists.txt b/Polyfills/Canvas/CMakeLists.txt
index 8171ac010..2e6abf820 100644
--- a/Polyfills/Canvas/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Polyfills/Canvas/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ set(SOURCES
 
 file(GLOB SHADERS "Source/Shaders/*.sc" "Source/Shaders/*.sh")
 
+option(BABYLON_NATIVE_CANVAS_FREETYPE "Use Freetype2 instead of stb_ttf" OFF)
+
 add_library(Canvas ${SOURCES} ${SHADERS})
 
 target_include_directories(Canvas
@@ -130,6 +132,12 @@ target_include_directories(Canvas
     PRIVATE "Source"
     PRIVATE "${BGFX_DIR}/3rdparty")
 
+if(BABYLON_NATIVE_CANVAS_FREETYPE)
+    target_compile_definitions(Canvas PRIVATE FONS_USE_FREETYPE)
+    set(EXTERNAL_FONT_LIBRARY freetype)
+    FetchContent_MakeAvailable_With_Message(FreeType)
+endif()
+
 target_link_libraries(Canvas
     PUBLIC napi
     PRIVATE bgfx
@@ -138,7 +146,8 @@ target_link_libraries(Canvas
     PRIVATE JsRuntimeInternal
     PRIVATE GraphicsDeviceContext
     PRIVATE UrlLib
-    PRIVATE base-n)
+    PRIVATE base-n
+    PRIVATE ${EXTERNAL_FONT_LIBRARY})
 
 if(BGFX_BUILD_TOOLS AND BGFX_BUILD_TOOLS_SHADER)
     if(NOT IOS AND NOT VISIONOS AND NOT ANDROID)
diff --git a/Polyfills/Canvas/Source/Context.cpp b/Polyfills/Canvas/Source/Context.cpp
index d59939022..a2088dc23 100644
--- a/Polyfills/Canvas/Source/Context.cpp
+++ b/Polyfills/Canvas/Source/Context.cpp
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@
 #pragma GCC diagnostic pop
 #endif
 
+#ifndef FONS_USE_FREETYPE
 #define STB_TRUETYPE_IMPLEMENTATION
 #include "stb/stb_truetype.h"
 #undef STB_TRUETYPE_IMPLEMENTATION
+#endif
 
 #include "Canvas.h"
 #include "Context.h"