diff --git a/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp b/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp
index 3b50376504..f569c6e795 100644
--- a/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp
@@ -2058,6 +2058,9 @@ QFontEngine *QTextEngine::fontEngine(const QScriptItem &si, QFixed *ascent, QFix
                     font = font.resolve(fnt);
                 }
                 engine = font.d->engineForScript(script);
+                if (engine)
+                    engine->ref.ref();
+
                 QTextCharFormat::VerticalAlignment valign = f.verticalAlignment();
                 if (valign == QTextCharFormat::AlignSuperScript || valign == QTextCharFormat::AlignSubScript) {
                     if (font.pointSize() != -1)
@@ -2065,16 +2068,14 @@ QFontEngine *QTextEngine::fontEngine(const QScriptItem &si, QFixed *ascent, QFix
                     else
                         font.setPixelSize((font.pixelSize() * 2) / 3);
                     scaledEngine = font.d->engineForScript(script);
+                    if (scaledEngine)
+                        scaledEngine->ref.ref();
                 }
 
-                if (engine)
-                    engine->ref.ref();
                 if (feCache.prevFontEngine)
                     releaseCachedFontEngine(feCache.prevFontEngine);
                 feCache.prevFontEngine = engine;
 
-                if (scaledEngine)
-                    scaledEngine->ref.ref();
                 if (feCache.prevScaledFontEngine)
                     releaseCachedFontEngine(feCache.prevScaledFontEngine);
                 feCache.prevScaledFontEngine = scaledEngine;
diff --git a/tests/auto/gui/text/qtextlayout/tst_qtextlayout.cpp b/tests/auto/gui/text/qtextlayout/tst_qtextlayout.cpp
index e778232461..84d58191c0 100644
--- a/tests/auto/gui/text/qtextlayout/tst_qtextlayout.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/gui/text/qtextlayout/tst_qtextlayout.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ private slots:
     void cursorInNonStopChars();
     void nbsp();
     void noModificationOfInputString();
+    void superscriptCrash_qtbug53911();
 
 private:
     QFont testFont;
@@ -2209,5 +2210,61 @@ void tst_QTextLayout::noModificationOfInputString()
     }
 }
 
+void tst_QTextLayout::superscriptCrash_qtbug53911()
+{
+    static int fontSizes = 64;
+    static QString layoutText = "THIS IS SOME EXAMPLE TEXT THIS IS SOME EXAMPLE TEXT";
+
+    QList<QTextLayout*> textLayouts;
+    for (int i = 0; i < fontSizes; ++i) {
+        for (int j = 0; j < 4; ++j) {
+            QTextLayout* newTextLayout = new QTextLayout();
+            newTextLayout->setText(layoutText);
+            QList<QTextLayout::FormatRange> formatRanges;
+            QTextLayout::FormatRange formatRange;
+
+            formatRange.format.setFont(QFont());
+            formatRange.format.setFontPointSize(i + 5);
+
+            switch (j) {
+            case 0:
+                formatRange.format.setFontWeight(QFont::Normal);
+                formatRange.format.setFontItalic(false);
+                break;
+            case 1:
+                formatRange.format.setFontWeight(QFont::Bold);
+                formatRange.format.setFontItalic(false);
+                break;
+            case 2:
+                formatRange.format.setFontWeight(QFont::Bold);
+                formatRange.format.setFontItalic(true);
+                break;
+            case 3:
+                formatRange.format.setFontWeight(QFont::Normal);
+                formatRange.format.setFontItalic(true);
+                break;
+            }
+
+            formatRange.format.setVerticalAlignment( QTextCharFormat::AlignSuperScript);
+
+            formatRange.start = 0;
+            formatRange.length = layoutText.size();
+            formatRanges << formatRange;
+            newTextLayout->setAdditionalFormats(formatRanges);
+
+            textLayouts.push_front(newTextLayout);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // This loop would crash before fix for QTBUG-53911
+    foreach (QTextLayout *textLayout, textLayouts) {
+        textLayout->beginLayout();
+        while (textLayout->createLine().isValid());
+        textLayout->endLayout();
+    }
+
+    qDeleteAll(textLayouts);
+}
+
 QTEST_MAIN(tst_QTextLayout)
 #include "tst_qtextlayout.moc"