diff --git a/clutter/clutter/clutter-private.h b/clutter/clutter/clutter-private.h
index a5cd1fa19..d4706808e 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter/clutter-private.h
+++ b/clutter/clutter/clutter-private.h
@@ -303,6 +303,11 @@ gboolean        _clutter_util_matrix_decompose  (const ClutterMatrix *src,
                                                  ClutterVertex       *translate_p,
                                                  ClutterVertex4      *perspective_p);
 
+PangoDirection _clutter_pango_unichar_direction (gunichar ch);
+
+PangoDirection _clutter_pango_find_base_dir     (const gchar *text,
+                                                 gint         length);
+
 typedef struct _ClutterPlane
 {
   float v0[3];
diff --git a/clutter/clutter/clutter-text.c b/clutter/clutter/clutter-text.c
index fb9d926df..9222cedfc 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter/clutter-text.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter/clutter-text.c
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ clutter_text_create_layout_no_cache (ClutterText       *text,
       if (priv->password_char != 0)
         pango_dir = PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL;
       else
-        pango_dir = pango_find_base_dir (contents, contents_len);
+        pango_dir = _clutter_pango_find_base_dir (contents, contents_len);
 
       if (pango_dir == PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL)
         {
diff --git a/clutter/clutter/clutter-util.c b/clutter/clutter/clutter-util.c
index ed52b6977..05d5d0e4c 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter/clutter-util.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter/clutter-util.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 #include "clutter-build-config.h"
 
+#include <fribidi.h>
 #include <math.h>
 
 #include "clutter-debug.h"
@@ -696,3 +697,45 @@ clutter_interval_register_progress_func (GType               value_type,
 
   G_UNLOCK (progress_funcs);
 }
+
+PangoDirection
+_clutter_pango_unichar_direction (gunichar ch)
+{
+  FriBidiCharType fribidi_ch_type;
+
+  G_STATIC_ASSERT (sizeof (FriBidiChar) == sizeof (gunichar));
+
+  fribidi_ch_type = fribidi_get_bidi_type (ch);
+
+  if (!FRIBIDI_IS_STRONG (fribidi_ch_type))
+    return PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL;
+  else if (FRIBIDI_IS_RTL (fribidi_ch_type))
+    return PANGO_DIRECTION_RTL;
+  else
+    return PANGO_DIRECTION_LTR;
+}
+
+PangoDirection
+_clutter_pango_find_base_dir (const gchar *text,
+                              gint         length)
+{
+  PangoDirection dir = PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL;
+  const gchar *p;
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (text != NULL || length == 0, PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL);
+
+  p = text;
+  while ((length < 0 || p < text + length) && *p)
+    {
+      gunichar wc = g_utf8_get_char (p);
+
+      dir = _clutter_pango_unichar_direction (wc);
+
+      if (dir != PANGO_DIRECTION_NEUTRAL)
+        break;
+
+      p = g_utf8_next_char (p);
+    }
+
+  return dir;
+}
diff --git a/clutter/clutter/x11/clutter-keymap-x11.c b/clutter/clutter/x11/clutter-keymap-x11.c
index f0c57d2cd..b92ba70bc 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter/x11/clutter-keymap-x11.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter/x11/clutter-keymap-x11.c
@@ -250,7 +250,8 @@ get_direction (XkbDescPtr xkb,
     {
       int level = 0;
       KeySym sym = XkbKeySymEntry (xkb, code, level, group);
-      PangoDirection dir = pango_unichar_direction (clutter_keysym_to_unicode (sym));
+      PangoDirection dir =
+        _clutter_pango_unichar_direction (clutter_keysym_to_unicode (sym));
 
       switch (dir)
         {
diff --git a/clutter/meson.build b/clutter/meson.build
index 0db934209..ab34c74c4 100644
--- a/clutter/meson.build
+++ b/clutter/meson.build
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ clutter_pkg_deps = [
 ]
 
 clutter_pkg_private_deps = [
+  fribidi_dep,
   gdk_pixbuf_dep,
   gthread_dep,
   gmodule_no_export_dep,
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 01e843d41..9d600377f 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ mutter_plugin_api_version = '3'
 libmutter_api_version = '4'
 
 # generic version requirements
+fribidi_req = '>= 1.0.0'
 glib_req = '>= 2.53.2'
 gi_req = '>= 0.9.5'
 gtk3_req = '>= 3.19.8'
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ pango_dep = dependency('pango', version: pango_req)
 cairo_dep = dependency('cairo', version: cairo_req)
 cairo_gobject_dep = dependency('cairo-gobject', version: cairo_req)
 pangocairo_dep = dependency('pangocairo', version: pangocairo_req)
+fribidi_dep = dependency('fribidi', version: fribidi_req)
 gsettings_desktop_schemas_dep = dependency('gsettings-desktop-schemas',
                                            version: gsettings_desktop_schemas_req)
 glib_dep = dependency('glib-2.0', version: glib_req)