diff --git a/gfx/thebes/gfxFont.cpp b/gfx/thebes/gfxFont.cpp
index b71878cb83ac..45886688bbe8 100644
--- a/gfx/thebes/gfxFont.cpp
+++ b/gfx/thebes/gfxFont.cpp
@@ -2647,7 +2647,10 @@ gfxFont::Draw(gfxTextRun *aTextRun, uint32_t aStart, uint32_t aEnd,
       DrawOptions drawOptions;
       drawOptions.mAntialiasMode = Get2DAAMode(mAntialiasOption);
 
-      if (mScaledFont) {
+      // The cairo DrawTarget backend uses the cairo_scaled_font directly
+      // and so has the font skew matrix applied already.
+      if (mScaledFont &&
+          dt->GetType() != BACKEND_CAIRO) {
         cairo_matrix_t matrix;
         cairo_scaled_font_get_font_matrix(mScaledFont, &matrix);
         if (matrix.xy != 0) {