diff --git a/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs b/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
index d0004fcd9..0643cb026 100644
--- a/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
+++ b/crates/text/src/fontdb.rs
@@ -640,6 +640,9 @@ struct FallbackLists {
 
 /// The most styles whose fallback faces are kept (a file naming more starts the list again).
 const MAX_FALLBACK_STYLES: usize = 64;
+/// Most faces loaded from one font collection given as bytes (the largest real collections,
+/// the CJK ones, hold a few dozen).
+const MAX_COLLECTION_FACES: u32 = 64;
 
 /// [`FontDb::key`]'s and [`FontDb::resolve`]'s answers for the families known in one generation.
 #[derive(Default)]
@@ -711,7 +714,10 @@ impl FontDb {
     pub fn add_bytes(&mut self, bytes: Vec<u8>) -> Vec<Arc<Face>> {
         let shared = Arc::new(bytes);
         let count = match FileRef::new(shared.as_slice()) {
-            Ok(FileRef::Collection(c)) => c.len(),
+            // A collection's header may name any number of faces, each a few bytes pointing at
+            // the same tables, and every face keeps its own character map: at most
+            // [`MAX_COLLECTION_FACES`] of them are loaded.
+            Ok(FileRef::Collection(c)) => c.len().min(MAX_COLLECTION_FACES),
             Ok(FileRef::Font(_)) => 1,
             Err(_) => 0,
         };
diff --git a/crates/text/src/fontdb_tests.rs b/crates/text/src/fontdb_tests.rs
index 5f0fa522b..112041050 100644
--- a/crates/text/src/fontdb_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/text/src/fontdb_tests.rs
@@ -595,3 +595,15 @@ fn system_font_dirs_are_walked_once_each() {
     let unique: std::collections::HashSet<_> = dirs.iter().collect();
     assert_eq!(unique.len(), dirs.len(), "{dirs:?}");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn a_collection_header_naming_billions_of_faces_loads_a_bounded_few() {
+    // Four bytes per face offset: a header can name far more faces than the data holds, and each
+    // one would be parsed (and keep a character map) in turn.
+    let mut bytes = synthetic_font_collection(32);
+    bytes[8..12].copy_from_slice(&u32::MAX.to_be_bytes());
+    let start = std::time::Instant::now();
+    let faces = FontDb::default().add_bytes(bytes);
+    assert!(faces.len() <= 64, "{}", faces.len());
+    assert!(start.elapsed() < std::time::Duration::from_secs(5), "{:?}", start.elapsed());
+}