diff --git a/crates/editor/src/editor.rs b/crates/editor/src/editor.rs
index cf074bad41..b53fda335e 100644
--- a/crates/editor/src/editor.rs
+++ b/crates/editor/src/editor.rs
@@ -9565,7 +9565,7 @@ impl InputHandler for Editor {
     ) -> Option<gpui::Bounds<Pixels>> {
         let text_layout_details = self.text_layout_details(cx);
         let style = &text_layout_details.editor_style;
-        let font_id = cx.text_system().font_id(&style.text.font()).unwrap();
+        let font_id = cx.text_system().resolve_font(&style.text.font());
         let font_size = style.text.font_size.to_pixels(cx.rem_size());
         let line_height = style.text.line_height_in_pixels(cx.rem_size());
         let em_width = cx
diff --git a/crates/editor/src/element.rs b/crates/editor/src/element.rs
index b1a3e73d6a..76a5d1ec5c 100644
--- a/crates/editor/src/element.rs
+++ b/crates/editor/src/element.rs
@@ -1775,7 +1775,7 @@ impl EditorElement {
             let snapshot = editor.snapshot(cx);
             let style = self.style.clone();
 
-            let font_id = cx.text_system().font_id(&style.text.font()).unwrap();
+            let font_id = cx.text_system().resolve_font(&style.text.font());
             let font_size = style.text.font_size.to_pixels(cx.rem_size());
             let line_height = style.text.line_height_in_pixels(cx.rem_size());
             let em_width = cx
@@ -3782,7 +3782,7 @@ fn compute_auto_height_layout(
     }
 
     let style = editor.style.as_ref().unwrap();
-    let font_id = cx.text_system().font_id(&style.text.font()).unwrap();
+    let font_id = cx.text_system().resolve_font(&style.text.font());
     let font_size = style.text.font_size.to_pixels(cx.rem_size());
     let line_height = style.text.line_height_in_pixels(cx.rem_size());
     let em_width = cx
diff --git a/crates/gpui/src/text_system.rs b/crates/gpui/src/text_system.rs
index 944a9b78be..60934b3959 100644
--- a/crates/gpui/src/text_system.rs
+++ b/crates/gpui/src/text_system.rs
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@ use crate::{
 use anyhow::anyhow;
 use collections::FxHashMap;
 use core::fmt;
+use itertools::Itertools;
 use parking_lot::{Mutex, RwLock, RwLockUpgradableReadGuard};
-use smallvec::SmallVec;
+use smallvec::{smallvec, SmallVec};
 use std::{
     cmp,
     fmt::{Debug, Display, Formatter},
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ pub struct TextSystem {
     raster_bounds: RwLock<FxHashMap<RenderGlyphParams, Bounds<DevicePixels>>>,
     wrapper_pool: Mutex<FxHashMap<FontIdWithSize, Vec<LineWrapper>>>,
     font_runs_pool: Mutex<Vec<Vec<FontRun>>>,
+    fallback_font_stack: SmallVec<[Font; 2]>,
 }
 
 impl TextSystem {
@@ -54,6 +56,12 @@ impl TextSystem {
             font_ids_by_font: RwLock::default(),
             wrapper_pool: Mutex::default(),
             font_runs_pool: Mutex::default(),
+            fallback_font_stack: smallvec![
+                // TODO: This is currently Zed-specific.
+                // We should allow GPUI users to provide their own fallback font stack.
+                font("Zed Mono"),
+                font("Helvetica")
+            ],
         }
     }
 
@@ -72,6 +80,33 @@ impl TextSystem {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Resolves the specified font, falling back to the default font stack if
+    /// the font fails to load.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Panics if the font and none of the fallbacks can be resolved.
+    pub fn resolve_font(&self, font: &Font) -> FontId {
+        if let Ok(font_id) = self.font_id(font) {
+            return font_id;
+        }
+
+        for fallback in &self.fallback_font_stack {
+            if let Ok(font_id) = self.font_id(fallback) {
+                return font_id;
+            }
+        }
+
+        panic!(
+            "failed to resolve font '{}' or any of the fallbacks: {}",
+            font.family,
+            self.fallback_font_stack
+                .iter()
+                .map(|fallback| &fallback.family)
+                .join(", ")
+        );
+    }
+
     pub fn bounding_box(&self, font_id: FontId, font_size: Pixels) -> Bounds<Pixels> {
         self.read_metrics(font_id, |metrics| metrics.bounding_box(font_size))
     }
@@ -159,7 +194,7 @@ impl TextSystem {
     ) -> Result<Arc<LineLayout>> {
         let mut font_runs = self.font_runs_pool.lock().pop().unwrap_or_default();
         for run in runs.iter() {
-            let font_id = self.font_id(&run.font)?;
+            let font_id = self.resolve_font(&run.font);
             if let Some(last_run) = font_runs.last_mut() {
                 if last_run.font_id == font_id {
                     last_run.len += run.len;
diff --git a/crates/terminal_view/src/terminal_element.rs b/crates/terminal_view/src/terminal_element.rs
index 8be10f9469..328a6a1c4e 100644
--- a/crates/terminal_view/src/terminal_element.rs
+++ b/crates/terminal_view/src/terminal_element.rs
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ impl TerminalElement {
             let rem_size = cx.rem_size();
             let font_pixels = text_style.font_size.to_pixels(rem_size);
             let line_height = font_pixels * line_height.to_pixels(rem_size);
-            let font_id = cx.text_system().font_id(&text_style.font()).unwrap();
+            let font_id = cx.text_system().resolve_font(&text_style.font());
 
             // todo!(do we need to keep this unwrap?)
             let cell_width = text_system