diff --git a/gsk/gl/gskglrenderjob.c b/gsk/gl/gskglrenderjob.c
index e0c87cadf0..e30a1e1341 100644
--- a/gsk/gl/gskglrenderjob.c
+++ b/gsk/gl/gskglrenderjob.c
@@ -2938,7 +2938,7 @@ gsk_gl_render_job_visit_text_node (GskGLRenderJob      *job,
   const PangoFont *font = gsk_text_node_get_font (node);
   const PangoGlyphInfo *glyphs = gsk_text_node_get_glyphs (node, NULL);
   const graphene_point_t *offset = gsk_text_node_get_offset (node);
-  float text_scale = MAX (job->scale_x, job->scale_y); /* TODO: Fix for uneven scales? */
+  float text_scale = MAX (fabs (job->scale_x), fabs (job->scale_y)); /* TODO: Fix for uneven scales? */
   guint num_glyphs = gsk_text_node_get_num_glyphs (node);
   float x = offset->x + job->offset_x;
   float y = offset->y + job->offset_y;
diff --git a/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.node b/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.node
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..af647250f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.node
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+transform {
+  transform: scale(-1, -1) translate(-100, -100);
+  child: text {
+    font:"Cantarell 20";
+    glyphs:"ABC";
+    offset: 0 0;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.png b/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0cbbadb40d
Binary files /dev/null and b/testsuite/gsk/compare/upside-down-label-3d.png differ
diff --git a/testsuite/gsk/meson.build b/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
index 82fe0d5dfc..3c90dd632e 100644
--- a/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
+++ b/testsuite/gsk/meson.build
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ compare_render_tests = [
   'transform-in-transform',
   'transform-in-transform-in-transform',
   'unaligned-offscreen',
+  'upside-down-label-3d', # not really 3d, but cairo fails it
   'rounded-clip-in-clip-3d', # not really 3d, but cairo fails it
 ]