diff --git a/harfbuzz-enable-delayload-freetype.patch b/harfbuzz-enable-delayload-freetype.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12f5ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/harfbuzz-enable-delayload-freetype.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+--- harfbuzz-1.1.2/configure.ac.orig	2015-12-31 15:58:04.284354714 +0100
++++ harfbuzz-1.1.2/configure.ac	2015-12-31 16:08:46.848239317 +0100
+@@ -432,6 +432,30 @@
+ 
+ dnl ===========================================================================
+ 
++AC_ARG_ENABLE(delay-load,
++              [AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-delay-load],
++                              [makes the freetype dependency optional at runtime (win32 only)])],,
++              [enable_delay_load=no])
++
++AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to enable the use of delay-loaded freetype dependencies])
++if test $hb_os_win32 = false; then
++  enable_delay_load=false
++fi
++AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_DELAY_LOAD, test x"$enable_delay_load" = x"yes")
++AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_delay_load])
++
++if test x"$enable_delay_load" = x"yes" ; then 
++  AC_CHECK_TOOL([GENDEF], [gendef])
++
++  AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether gendef was found])
++  if test x"$GENDEF" = x"" ; then
++    AC_MSG_ERROR([The gendef tool (required for delay loading the freetype dependency) could not be detected])
++  fi
++  AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
++fi
++
++dnl ===========================================================================
++
+ AC_CONFIG_FILES([
+ Makefile
+ src/Makefile
+@@ -475,4 +499,5 @@
+ 	Documentation:		${have_gtk_doc}
+ 	GObject bindings:	${have_gobject}
+ 	Introspection:		${have_introspection}
++	Enable delay loading:   ${enable_delay_load}
+ ])
+--- harfbuzz-1.1.2/src/Makefile.am.orig	2015-11-27 01:24:17.545771865 +0100
++++ harfbuzz-1.1.2/src/Makefile.am	2015-12-31 16:08:07.869821859 +0100
+@@ -149,14 +149,29 @@
+ endif
+ 
+ if HAVE_FREETYPE
+-HBCFLAGS += $(FREETYPE_CFLAGS)
++if ENABLE_DELAY_LOAD
++# Create delay-loaded import library for freetype
++libfreetype-delay-loaded.dll.a:
++	DLL=$(bindir)/libfreetype-6.dll; \
++	if test ! -f "$$DLL" ; then \
++	  echo "*** File $$DLL could not be found, unable to create delay-loaded import library"; \
++	  exit 1; \
++	fi; \
++	$(GENDEF) - "$$DLL" > freetype_delay_load.def; \
++	$(DLLTOOL) --def freetype_delay_load.def --kill-at --output-delaylib libfreetype-delay-loaded.dll.a
++
++harfbuzz_delayload_ldflags = -Wl,libfreetype-delay-loaded.dll.a -Wl,-lmingwex -Wl,-lkernel32
++harfbuzz_delayload_dependency = libfreetype-delay-loaded.dll.a
++else
+ HBLIBS   += $(FREETYPE_LIBS)
++endif
+ # XXX
+ # The following creates a recursive dependency on FreeType if FreeType is
+ # built with HarfBuzz support enabled.  Newer pkg-config handles that just
+ # fine but pkg-config 0.26 as shipped in Ubuntu 14.04 crashes.  Remove
+ # in a year or two, or otherwise work around it...
+ #HBDEPS   += $(FREETYPE_DEPS)
++HBCFLAGS  += $(FREETYPE_CFLAGS)
+ HBSOURCES += hb-ft.cc
+ HBHEADERS += hb-ft.h
+ endif
+@@ -226,9 +226,9 @@
+ 
+ libharfbuzz_la_SOURCES = $(HBSOURCES) $(HBHEADERS) $(HBNODISTHEADERS)
+ libharfbuzz_la_CPPFLAGS = $(HBCFLAGS)
+-libharfbuzz_la_LDFLAGS = $(AM_LDFLAGS) -version-info $(HB_LIBTOOL_VERSION_INFO) $(export_symbols) -no-undefined
++libharfbuzz_la_LDFLAGS = $(AM_LDFLAGS) -version-info $(HB_LIBTOOL_VERSION_INFO) $(export_symbols) -no-undefined $(harfbuzz_delayload_ldflags)
+ libharfbuzz_la_LIBADD = $(HBLIBS)
+-EXTRA_libharfbuzz_la_DEPENDENCIES = $(harfbuzz_def_dependency)
++EXTRA_libharfbuzz_la_DEPENDENCIES = $(harfbuzz_def_dependency) $(harfbuzz_delayload_dependency)
+ pkginclude_HEADERS = $(HBHEADERS)
+ nodist_pkginclude_HEADERS = $(HBNODISTHEADERS)
+ pkgconfigdir = $(libdir)/pkgconfig
diff --git a/mingw-harfbuzz.spec b/mingw-harfbuzz.spec
index c13a553..2589a06 100644
--- a/mingw-harfbuzz.spec
+++ b/mingw-harfbuzz.spec
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ Group:          Development/Libraries
 URL:            http://www.harfbuzz.org
 Source0:        http://www.freedesktop.org/software/harfbuzz/release/harfbuzz-%{version}.tar.bz2
 
+# Allow the freetype dependency to be optional at runtime
+Patch0:         harfbuzz-enable-delayload-freetype.patch
+
 BuildArch:      noarch
 
 BuildRequires:  mingw32-filesystem >= 95
@@ -26,6 +29,9 @@ BuildRequires:  mingw64-freetype
 BuildRequires:  mingw64-cairo
 BuildRequires:  mingw64-icu
 
+BuildRequires:  autoconf automake libtool
+
+
 %description
 HarfBuzz is an implementation of the OpenType Layout engine.
 
@@ -66,10 +72,12 @@ Static version of the MinGW Windows Harfbuzz library.
 
 %prep
 %setup -q -n harfbuzz-%{version}
+%patch0 -p1
+autoreconf -i --force
 
 
 %build
-%mingw_configure --enable-shared --enable-static
+%mingw_configure --enable-shared --enable-static --enable-delay-load
 %mingw_make %{?_smp_mflags}
 
 
@@ -120,6 +128,7 @@ find $RPM_BUILD_ROOT -name "*.la" -delete
 %changelog
 * Thu Dec 31 2015 Erik van Pienbroek <epienbro@fedoraproject.org> - 1.1.2-1
 - Update to 1.1.2
+- Make freetype an optional runtime dependency instead of a hard dependency (using delay load)
 
 * Fri Sep 25 2015 Kalev Lember <klember@redhat.com> - 1.0.3-1
 - Update to 1.0.3