diff --git a/src/servers/app/drawing/Painter/Painter.cpp b/src/servers/app/drawing/Painter/Painter.cpp
index 7c8e22a094..31f4137775 100644
--- a/src/servers/app/drawing/Painter/Painter.cpp
+++ b/src/servers/app/drawing/Painter/Painter.cpp
@@ -612,26 +612,29 @@ Painter::DrawString(const char* utf8String, uint32 length,
 {
 	fPatternHandler->SetPattern(B_SOLID_HIGH);
 
-	Transformable transform;
-// TODO: convert BFont::Shear(), which is in degrees 45°...135° to whatever AGG is using
-//	transform.ShearBy(B_ORIGIN, fFont.Shear(), 0.0);
-	transform.RotateBy(B_ORIGIN, -fFont.Rotation());
-	transform.TranslateBy(baseLine);
-	transform.ScaleBy(B_ORIGIN, fScale, fScale);
-	transform.TranslateBy(fOrigin);
+	if (fBuffer) {
 
-	fTextRenderer->RenderString(utf8String,
-								length,
-								fFontRendererSolid,
-								fFontRendererBin,
-								transform,
-								&fPenLocation);
-	// pen location is not transformed in quite the same way,
-	// or transformations would add up
-	transform.Reset();
-	transform.RotateBy(B_ORIGIN, -fFont.Rotation());
-	transform.TranslateBy(baseLine);
-	transform.Transform(&fPenLocation);
+		Transformable transform;
+// TODO: convert BFont::Shear(), which is in degrees 45°...135° to whatever AGG is using
+//		transform.ShearBy(B_ORIGIN, fFont.Shear(), 0.0);
+		transform.RotateBy(B_ORIGIN, -fFont.Rotation());
+		transform.TranslateBy(baseLine);
+		transform.ScaleBy(B_ORIGIN, fScale, fScale);
+		transform.TranslateBy(fOrigin);
+	
+		fTextRenderer->RenderString(utf8String,
+									length,
+									fFontRendererSolid,
+									fFontRendererBin,
+									transform,
+									&fPenLocation);
+		// pen location is not transformed in quite the same way,
+		// or transformations would add up
+		transform.Reset();
+		transform.RotateBy(B_ORIGIN, -fFont.Rotation());
+		transform.TranslateBy(baseLine);
+		transform.Transform(&fPenLocation);
+	}
 }
 
 // DrawString