diff --git a/panda/src/text/fontPool.cxx b/panda/src/text/fontPool.cxx
index 301c31840d..8c56c90983 100644
--- a/panda/src/text/fontPool.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/text/fontPool.cxx
@@ -166,11 +166,16 @@ ns_add_font(const string &str, TextFont *font) {
 //  Description: The nonstatic implementation of release_font().
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void FontPool::
-ns_release_font(const string &filename) {
+ns_release_font(const string &str) {
   LightMutexHolder holder(_lock);
 
+  string index_str;
+  Filename filename;
+  int face_index;
+  lookup_filename(str, index_str, filename, face_index);
+
   Fonts::iterator ti;
-  ti = _fonts.find(filename);
+  ti = _fonts.find(index_str);
   if (ti != _fonts.end()) {
     _fonts.erase(ti);
   }
diff --git a/panda/src/text/fontPool.h b/panda/src/text/fontPool.h
index f02b895c91..0895d0fe37 100644
--- a/panda/src/text/fontPool.h
+++ b/panda/src/text/fontPool.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ private:
   bool ns_has_font(const string &str);
   TextFont *ns_load_font(const string &str);
   void ns_add_font(const string &str, TextFont *font);
-  void ns_release_font(const string &filename);
+  void ns_release_font(const string &str);
   void ns_release_all_fonts();
   int ns_garbage_collect();
   void ns_list_contents(ostream &out) const;