diff --git a/src/ft2font_wrapper.cpp b/src/ft2font_wrapper.cpp
index 0017617b75..8ced8e1e92 100644
--- a/src/ft2font_wrapper.cpp
+++ b/src/ft2font_wrapper.cpp
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ struct PyFT2Font
     Py_ssize_t shape[2];
     Py_ssize_t strides[2];
     Py_ssize_t suboffsets[2];
-    std::vector<PyObject *> fallbacks;
+    PyObject* fallback_tuple;
 };
 
 static unsigned long read_from_file_callback(FT_Stream stream,
@@ -386,22 +386,32 @@ static int PyFT2Font_init(PyFT2Font *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
     open_args.flags = FT_OPEN_STREAM;
     open_args.stream = &self->stream;
 
-    if (fallback_list && PyList_Check(fallback_list)) {
-        Py_ssize_t size = PyList_Size(fallback_list);
-
-        for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
-            // this returns a borrowed reference
-            PyObject* item = PyList_GetItem(fallback_list, i);
-            // Increase the ref count, we will undo this in dealloc
-            // this makes sure things do not get gc'd under us!
-            Py_INCREF(item);
-            self->fallbacks.push_back(item);
-            // TODO: check whether item is actually an FT2Font
-            FT2Font *fback = reinterpret_cast<PyFT2Font *>(item)->x;
-            // Also (locally) cache the underlying FT2Font objects
-            fallback_fonts.push_back(fback);
-        }
+    if (PyList_Check(fallback_list)) {
+        // we got a list
+        self->fallback_tuple = PyList_AsTuple(fallback_list);
+    } else if (PyTuple_Check(fallback_list)) {
+        // we got a tuple
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Tuple not supported yet");
+       goto exit;
+    } else if (fallback_list == Py_None) {
+        // we got None
+        self->fallback_tuple = PyTuple_New(0)
+    } else {
+        // we got anything else!
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Must be list, tuple, or None");
+       goto exit;
+    }
 
+    Py_ssize_t size = PyTuple_GET_SIZE(self->fallback_tuple);
+    fallback_fonts.resize(size);
+
+    for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+        // this returns a borrowed reference
+        PyObject* item = PyTuple_GET_ITEM(self->fallback_tuple, i);
+        // TODO: check whether item is actually an FT2Font
+        FT2Font *fback = reinterpret_cast<PyFT2Font *>(item)->x;
+        // Also (locally) cache the underlying FT2Font objects
+        fallback_fonts.push_back(fback);
     }
 
     if (PyBytes_Check(filename) || PyUnicode_Check(filename)) {
@@ -437,9 +447,7 @@ exit:
 static void PyFT2Font_dealloc(PyFT2Font *self)
 {
     delete self->x;
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < self->fallbacks.size(); i++) {
-      Py_DECREF(self->fallbacks[i]);
-    }
+    Py_DECREF(self->fallback_tuple);
 
     Py_XDECREF(self->py_file);
     Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject *)self);