diff --git a/common/font/glyph.cpp b/common/font/glyph.cpp
index 546f041944..d1e0b49dae 100644
--- a/common/font/glyph.cpp
+++ b/common/font/glyph.cpp
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ void STROKE_GLYPH::AddPoint( const VECTOR2D& aPoint )
 {
     if( !m_penIsDown )
     {
-        std::vector<VECTOR2D> v;
-        push_back( v );
+        emplace_back();
+        back().reserve( 16 );   // This handles all but 359 strokes (out of over 328,000)
         m_penIsDown = true;
     }
 
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ void STROKE_GLYPH::AddPoint( const VECTOR2D& aPoint )
 
 void STROKE_GLYPH::RaisePen()
 {
+#if 0
     if( m_penIsDown )
         back().shrink_to_fit();
+#endif
 
     m_penIsDown = false;
 }
@@ -58,8 +60,12 @@ void STROKE_GLYPH::RaisePen()
 
 void STROKE_GLYPH::Finalize()
 {
-    if( !empty() && !back().empty() )
+    // Shrinking the strokes saves a bit less than 512K of memory.  It's not worth it for the
+    // performance hit of doing more than 328,000 reallocs.
+#if 0
+if( !empty() && !back().empty() )
         back().shrink_to_fit();
+#endif
 }
 
 
diff --git a/common/font/stroke_font.cpp b/common/font/stroke_font.cpp
index bb89eb714e..ec7c1c6edb 100644
--- a/common/font/stroke_font.cpp
+++ b/common/font/stroke_font.cpp
@@ -108,14 +108,26 @@ void STROKE_FONT::loadNewStrokeFont( const char* const aNewStrokeFont[], int aNe
 
         for( int j = 0; j < aNewStrokeFontSize; j++ )
         {
-            auto   glyph = std::make_shared<STROKE_GLYPH>();
+            std::shared_ptr<STROKE_GLYPH> glyph = std::make_shared<STROKE_GLYPH>();
+
             double glyphStartX = 0.0;
             double glyphEndX = 0.0;
             double glyphWidth = 0.0;
+            int    strokes = 0;
+            int    i = 0;
 
-            std::vector<VECTOR2D>* pointList = nullptr;
+            while( aNewStrokeFont[j][i] )
+            {
 
-            int i = 0;
+                if( aNewStrokeFont[j][i] == ' ' && aNewStrokeFont[j][i+1] == 'R' )
+                    strokes++;
+
+                i += 2;
+            }
+
+            glyph->reserve( strokes + 1 );
+
+            i = 0;
 
             while( aNewStrokeFont[j][i] )
             {
@@ -153,9 +165,6 @@ void STROKE_FONT::loadNewStrokeFont( const char* const aNewStrokeFont[], int aNe
                     // Only shapes like j y have coordinates < 0
                     point.y = (double) ( coordinate[1] - 'R' + FONT_OFFSET ) * STROKE_FONT_SCALE;
 
-                    if( !pointList )
-                        pointList = new std::vector<VECTOR2D>;
-
                     glyph->AddPoint( point );
                 }