diff --git a/libs/canvas/canvas/text.h b/libs/canvas/canvas/text.h
index 24251c215b..bd6c049606 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/canvas/text.h
+++ b/libs/canvas/canvas/text.h
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ public:
 
         void clamp_width (double);
 
+        double width() const;
+        double height() const;
+
         void set_size_chars (int nchars);
         void dump (std::ostream&) const;
 
diff --git a/libs/canvas/text.cc b/libs/canvas/text.cc
index 3b309e51df..fb38423dec 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/text.cc
+++ b/libs/canvas/text.cc
@@ -84,6 +84,24 @@ Text::set (string const & text)
 	end_change ();
 }
 
+double
+Text::width () const
+{
+	if (_need_redraw) {
+		_redraw  ();
+	}
+	return _width;
+}
+
+double
+Text::height () const
+{
+	if (_need_redraw) {
+		_redraw  ();
+	}
+	return _height;
+}
+
 void
 Text::_redraw () const
 {