diff --git a/src/Canvas.cc b/src/Canvas.cc
index bd39d4329..9270031f2 100644
--- a/src/Canvas.cc
+++ b/src/Canvas.cc
@@ -706,9 +706,9 @@ NAN_METHOD(Canvas::StreamJPEGSync) {
 char *
 str_value(Local<Value> val, const char *fallback, bool can_be_number) {
   if (val->IsString() || (can_be_number && val->IsNumber())) {
-    return g_strdup(*Nan::Utf8String(val));
+    return strdup(*Nan::Utf8String(val));
   } else if (fallback) {
-    return g_strdup(fallback);
+    return strdup(fallback);
   } else {
     return NULL;
   }
@@ -765,9 +765,9 @@ NAN_METHOD(Canvas::RegisterFont) {
     Nan::ThrowError(GENERIC_FACE_ERROR);
   }
 
-  g_free(family);
-  g_free(weight);
-  g_free(style);
+  free(family);
+  free(weight);
+  free(style);
 }
 
 NAN_METHOD(Canvas::DeregisterAllFonts) {
diff --git a/src/register_font.cc b/src/register_font.cc
index 1b8632dd2..927a66b4b 100644
--- a/src/register_font.cc
+++ b/src/register_font.cc
@@ -94,35 +94,12 @@ to_utf8(FT_Byte* buf, FT_UInt len, FT_UShort pid, FT_UShort eid) {
  * system, fall back to the other
  */
 
-typedef struct _NameDef {
-  const char *buf;
-  int rank; // the higher the more desirable
-} NameDef;
-
-gint
-_name_def_compare(gconstpointer a, gconstpointer b) {
-  return ((NameDef*)a)->rank > ((NameDef*)b)->rank ? -1 : 1;
-}
-
-// Some versions of GTK+ do not have this, particualrly the one we
-// currently link to in node-canvas's wiki
-void
-_free_g_list_item(gpointer data, gpointer user_data) {
-  NameDef *d = (NameDef *)data;
-  free((void *)(d->buf));
-}
-
-void
-_g_list_free_full(GList *list) {
-  g_list_foreach(list, _free_g_list_item, NULL);
-  g_list_free(list);
-}
-
 char *
 get_family_name(FT_Face face) {
   FT_SfntName name;
-  GList *list = NULL;
-  char *utf8name = NULL;
+
+  int best_rank = -1;
+  char* best_buf = NULL;
 
   for (unsigned i = 0; i < FT_Get_Sfnt_Name_Count(face); ++i) {
     FT_Get_Sfnt_Name(face, i, &name);
@@ -131,20 +108,19 @@ get_family_name(FT_Face face) {
       char *buf = to_utf8(name.string, name.string_len, name.platform_id, name.encoding_id);
 
       if (buf) {
-        NameDef *d = (NameDef*)malloc(sizeof(NameDef));
-        d->buf = (const char*)buf;
-        d->rank = GET_NAME_RANK(name);
-
-        list = g_list_insert_sorted(list, (gpointer)d, _name_def_compare);
+        int rank = GET_NAME_RANK(name);
+        if (rank > best_rank) {
+          best_rank = rank;
+          if (best_buf) free(best_buf);
+          best_buf = buf;
+        } else {
+          free(buf);
+        }
       }
     }
   }
 
-  GList *best_def = g_list_first(list);
-  if (best_def) utf8name = (char*) strdup(((NameDef*)best_def->data)->buf);
-  if (list) _g_list_free_full(list);
-
-  return utf8name;
+  return best_buf;
 }
 
 PangoWeight