diff --git a/include/minikin/CssParse.h b/include/minikin/CssParse.h
index f79ba1f61ca..2dceb4ac26c 100644
--- a/include/minikin/CssParse.h
+++ b/include/minikin/CssParse.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ enum CssTag {
     fontWeight,
     fontStyle,
     minikinHinting,
+    minikinBidi,
 };
 
 const std::string cssTagNames[] = {
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ const std::string cssTagNames[] = {
     "font-weight",
     "font-style",
     "-minikin-hinting",
+    "-minikin-bidi",
 };
 
 class CssValue {
diff --git a/libs/minikin/CssParse.cpp b/libs/minikin/CssParse.cpp
index d4de23bee05..5bb6949b9a2 100644
--- a/libs/minikin/CssParse.cpp
+++ b/libs/minikin/CssParse.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ CssTag parseTag(const string str, size_t off, size_t len) {
         if (strEqC(str, off, len, "font-style")) return fontStyle;
     } else if (c == '-') {
         if (strEqC(str, off, len, "-minikin-hinting")) return minikinHinting;
+        if (strEqC(str, off, len, "-minikin-bidi")) return minikinBidi;
     }
     return unknown;
 }
diff --git a/libs/minikin/Layout.cpp b/libs/minikin/Layout.cpp
index 08365b354ec..3a0be6abefc 100644
--- a/libs/minikin/Layout.cpp
+++ b/libs/minikin/Layout.cpp
@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <iostream>  // for debugging
 #include <stdio.h>  // ditto
 
+#include <unicode/ubidi.h>
 #include <hb-icu.h>
 
 #include "MinikinInternal.h"
@@ -91,7 +93,6 @@ void Layout::init() {
 }
 
 void Layout::setFontCollection(const FontCollection *collection) {
-    ALOGD("setFontCollection(%p)", collection);
     mCollection = collection;
 }
 
@@ -290,6 +291,11 @@ void Layout::doLayout(const uint16_t* buf, size_t nchars) {
     MinikinPaint paint;
     double size = mProps.value(fontSize).getFloatValue();
     paint.size = size;
+    int bidiFlags = mProps.hasTag(minikinBidi) ? mProps.value(minikinBidi).getIntValue() : 0;
+    bool isRtl = (bidiFlags & 1) != 0;  // TODO: do real bidi algo
+    if (isRtl) {
+        std::reverse(items.begin(), items.end());
+    }
 
     mGlyphs.clear();
     mFaces.clear();
@@ -315,6 +321,9 @@ void Layout::doLayout(const uint16_t* buf, size_t nchars) {
         hb_font_set_ppem(hbFont, size, size);
         hb_font_set_scale(hbFont, HBFloatToFixed(size), HBFloatToFixed(size));
 
+        // TODO: if there are multiple scripts within a font in an RTL run,
+        // we need to reorder those runs. This is unlikely with our current
+        // font stack, but should be done for correctness.
         ssize_t srunend;
         for (ssize_t srunstart = run.start; srunstart < run.end; srunstart = srunend) {
             srunend = srunstart;
@@ -322,7 +331,7 @@ void Layout::doLayout(const uint16_t* buf, size_t nchars) {
 
             hb_buffer_reset(buffer);
             hb_buffer_set_script(buffer, script);
-            hb_buffer_set_direction(buffer, HB_DIRECTION_LTR);
+            hb_buffer_set_direction(buffer, isRtl? HB_DIRECTION_RTL : HB_DIRECTION_LTR);
             hb_buffer_add_utf16(buffer, buf, nchars, srunstart, srunend - srunstart);
             hb_shape(hbFont, buffer, NULL, 0);
             unsigned int numGlyphs;