diff --git a/common/pango.c b/common/pango.c
index dbc369dc..88932203 100644
--- a/common/pango.c
+++ b/common/pango.c
@@ -109,6 +109,24 @@ void get_text_size(cairo_t *cairo, const char *font, int *width, int *height,
 	free(buf);
 }
 
+void get_text_metrics(const char *font, int *height, int *baseline) {
+	cairo_t *cairo = cairo_create(NULL);
+	PangoContext *pango = pango_cairo_create_context(cairo);
+	PangoFontDescription *description = pango_font_description_from_string(font);
+	PangoFontMetrics *metrics;
+
+	// When passing NULL as a language, pango uses the current locale.
+	metrics = pango_context_get_metrics(pango, description, NULL);
+
+	*baseline = pango_font_metrics_get_ascent(metrics) / PANGO_SCALE;
+	*height = *baseline + pango_font_metrics_get_descent(metrics) / PANGO_SCALE;
+
+	pango_font_metrics_unref(metrics);
+	pango_font_description_free(description);
+	g_object_unref(pango);
+	cairo_destroy(cairo);
+}
+
 void pango_printf(cairo_t *cairo, const char *font,
 		double scale, bool markup, const char *fmt, ...) {
 	va_list args;
diff --git a/include/pango.h b/include/pango.h
index 75dbba27..7f41441b 100644
--- a/include/pango.h
+++ b/include/pango.h
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ PangoLayout *get_pango_layout(cairo_t *cairo, const char *font,
 		const char *text, double scale, bool markup);
 void get_text_size(cairo_t *cairo, const char *font, int *width, int *height,
 		int *baseline, double scale, bool markup, const char *fmt, ...);
+void get_text_metrics(const char *font, int *height, int *baseline);
 void pango_printf(cairo_t *cairo, const char *font,
 		double scale, bool markup, const char *fmt, ...);
 
diff --git a/include/sway/config.h b/include/sway/config.h
index b8327e9c..d6c29fe6 100644
--- a/include/sway/config.h
+++ b/include/sway/config.h
@@ -486,8 +486,8 @@ struct sway_config {
 	enum sway_container_layout default_orientation;
 	enum sway_container_layout default_layout;
 	char *font;
-	size_t font_height;
-	size_t font_baseline;
+	int font_height;
+	int font_baseline;
 	bool pango_markup;
 	int titlebar_border_thickness;
 	int titlebar_h_padding;
@@ -696,14 +696,13 @@ void free_bar_binding(struct bar_binding *binding);
 void free_workspace_config(struct workspace_config *wsc);
 
 /**
- * Updates the value of config->font_height based on the max title height
- * reported by each container. If recalculate is true, the containers will
- * recalculate their heights before reporting.
- *
+ * Updates the value of config->font_height based on the metrics for title's
+ * font as reported by pango.
+ * 
  * If the height has changed, all containers will be rearranged to take on the
  * new size.
  */
-void config_update_font_height(bool recalculate);
+void config_update_font_height(void);
 
 /**
  * Convert bindsym into bindcode using the first configured layout.
diff --git a/include/sway/tree/container.h b/include/sway/tree/container.h
index 38ee68bd..97fa98c1 100644
--- a/include/sway/tree/container.h
+++ b/include/sway/tree/container.h
@@ -119,8 +119,6 @@ struct sway_container {
 	struct wlr_texture *title_focused_inactive;
 	struct wlr_texture *title_unfocused;
 	struct wlr_texture *title_urgent;
-	size_t title_height;
-	size_t title_baseline;
 
 	list_t *marks; // char *
 	struct wlr_texture *marks_focused;
@@ -183,11 +181,6 @@ struct sway_container *container_flatten(struct sway_container *container);
 
 void container_update_title_textures(struct sway_container *container);
 
-/**
- * Calculate the container's title_height property.
- */
-void container_calculate_title_height(struct sway_container *container);
-
 size_t container_build_representation(enum sway_container_layout layout,
 		list_t *children, char *buffer);
 
diff --git a/sway/commands/font.c b/sway/commands/font.c
index c54365b5..cea720f5 100644
--- a/sway/commands/font.c
+++ b/sway/commands/font.c
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@ struct cmd_results *cmd_font(int argc, char **argv) {
 	}
 
 	free(font);
-	config_update_font_height(true);
+	config_update_font_height();
 	return cmd_results_new(CMD_SUCCESS, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/sway/commands/reload.c b/sway/commands/reload.c
index 3c994d54..09ccd9d4 100644
--- a/sway/commands/reload.c
+++ b/sway/commands/reload.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ static void do_reload(void *data) {
 	}
 	list_free_items_and_destroy(bar_ids);
 
-	config_update_font_height(true);
+	config_update_font_height();
 	root_for_each_container(rebuild_textures_iterator, NULL);
 
 	arrange_root();
diff --git a/sway/commands/title_format.c b/sway/commands/title_format.c
index 9d312470..8d907e76 100644
--- a/sway/commands/title_format.c
+++ b/sway/commands/title_format.c
@@ -23,6 +23,6 @@ struct cmd_results *cmd_title_format(int argc, char **argv) {
 	}
 	view->title_format = format;
 	view_update_title(view, true);
-	config_update_font_height(true);
+	config_update_font_height();
 	return cmd_results_new(CMD_SUCCESS, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/sway/config.c b/sway/config.c
index fde386c7..1ddedc7e 100644
--- a/sway/config.c
+++ b/sway/config.c
@@ -991,31 +991,11 @@ int workspace_output_cmp_workspace(const void *a, const void *b) {
 	return lenient_strcmp(wsa->workspace, wsb->workspace);
 }
 
-static void find_font_height_iterator(struct sway_container *con, void *data) {
-	size_t amount_below_baseline = con->title_height - con->title_baseline;
-	size_t extended_height = config->font_baseline + amount_below_baseline;
-	if (extended_height > config->font_height) {
-		config->font_height = extended_height;
-	}
-}
-
-static void find_baseline_iterator(struct sway_container *con, void *data) {
-	bool *recalculate = data;
-	if (*recalculate) {
-		container_calculate_title_height(con);
-	}
-	if (con->title_baseline > config->font_baseline) {
-		config->font_baseline = con->title_baseline;
-	}
-}
 
-void config_update_font_height(bool recalculate) {
-	size_t prev_max_height = config->font_height;
-	config->font_height = 0;
-	config->font_baseline = 0;
+void config_update_font_height(void) {
+	int prev_max_height = config->font_height;
 
-	root_for_each_container(find_baseline_iterator, &recalculate);
-	root_for_each_container(find_font_height_iterator, NULL);
+	get_text_metrics(config->font, &config->font_height, &config->font_baseline);
 
 	if (config->font_height != prev_max_height) {
 		arrange_root();
diff --git a/sway/desktop/render.c b/sway/desktop/render.c
index a5bd8a5f..d25df570 100644
--- a/sway/desktop/render.c
+++ b/sway/desktop/render.c
@@ -559,8 +559,7 @@ static void render_titlebar(struct sway_output *output,
 
 		// The title texture might be shorter than the config->font_height,
 		// in which case we need to pad it above and below.
-		int ob_padding_above = round((config->font_baseline -
-					con->title_baseline + titlebar_v_padding -
+		int ob_padding_above = round((titlebar_v_padding -
 					titlebar_border_thickness) * output_scale);
 		int ob_padding_below = ob_bg_height - ob_padding_above -
 			texture_box.height;
diff --git a/sway/tree/container.c b/sway/tree/container.c
index 3b661046..00c40218 100644
--- a/sway/tree/container.c
+++ b/sway/tree/container.c
@@ -509,7 +509,8 @@ static void update_title_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 
 	double scale = output->wlr_output->scale;
 	int width = 0;
-	int height = con->title_height * scale;
+	int height = config->font_height * scale;
+	int baseline;
 
 	// We must use a non-nil cairo_t for cairo_set_font_options to work.
 	// Therefore, we cannot use cairo_create(NULL).
@@ -527,7 +528,7 @@ static void update_title_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 			to_cairo_subpixel_order(output->wlr_output->subpixel));
 	}
 	cairo_set_font_options(c, fo);
-	get_text_size(c, config->font, &width, NULL, NULL, scale,
+	get_text_size(c, config->font, &width, NULL, &baseline, scale,
 			config->pango_markup, "%s", con->formatted_title);
 	cairo_surface_destroy(dummy_surface);
 	cairo_destroy(c);
@@ -536,6 +537,10 @@ static void update_title_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (height > config->font_height * scale) {
+		height = config->font_height * scale;
+	}
+
 	cairo_surface_t *surface = cairo_image_surface_create(
 			CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32, width, height);
 	cairo_t *cairo = cairo_create(surface);
@@ -548,7 +553,7 @@ static void update_title_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 	PangoContext *pango = pango_cairo_create_context(cairo);
 	cairo_set_source_rgba(cairo, class->text[0], class->text[1],
 			class->text[2], class->text[3]);
-	cairo_move_to(cairo, 0, 0);
+	cairo_move_to(cairo, 0, config->font_baseline * scale - baseline);
 
 	pango_printf(cairo, config->font, scale, config->pango_markup,
 			"%s", con->formatted_title);
@@ -577,21 +582,6 @@ void container_update_title_textures(struct sway_container *container) {
 	container_damage_whole(container);
 }
 
-void container_calculate_title_height(struct sway_container *container) {
-	if (!container->formatted_title) {
-		container->title_height = 0;
-		return;
-	}
-	cairo_t *cairo = cairo_create(NULL);
-	int height;
-	int baseline;
-	get_text_size(cairo, config->font, NULL, &height, &baseline, 1,
-			config->pango_markup, "%s", container->formatted_title);
-	cairo_destroy(cairo);
-	container->title_height = height;
-	container->title_baseline = baseline;
-}
-
 /**
  * Calculate and return the length of the tree representation.
  * An example tree representation is: V[Terminal, Firefox]
@@ -657,7 +647,6 @@ void container_update_representation(struct sway_container *con) {
 		}
 		container_build_representation(con->pending.layout, con->pending.children,
 				con->formatted_title);
-		container_calculate_title_height(con);
 		container_update_title_textures(con);
 	}
 	if (con->pending.parent) {
@@ -1628,10 +1617,11 @@ static void update_marks_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 
 	double scale = output->wlr_output->scale;
 	int width = 0;
-	int height = con->title_height * scale;
+	int height = config->font_height * scale;
+	int baseline;
 
 	cairo_t *c = cairo_create(NULL);
-	get_text_size(c, config->font, &width, NULL, NULL, scale, false,
+	get_text_size(c, config->font, &width, NULL, &baseline, scale, false,
 			"%s", buffer);
 	cairo_destroy(c);
 
@@ -1639,6 +1629,10 @@ static void update_marks_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (height > config->font_height) {
+		height = config->font_height;
+	}
+
 	cairo_surface_t *surface = cairo_image_surface_create(
 			CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32, width, height);
 	cairo_t *cairo = cairo_create(surface);
@@ -1649,7 +1643,7 @@ static void update_marks_texture(struct sway_container *con,
 	cairo_set_antialias(cairo, CAIRO_ANTIALIAS_BEST);
 	cairo_set_source_rgba(cairo, class->text[0], class->text[1],
 			class->text[2], class->text[3]);
-	cairo_move_to(cairo, 0, 0);
+	cairo_move_to(cairo, 0, config->font_baseline * scale - baseline);
 
 	pango_printf(cairo, config->font, scale, false, "%s", buffer);
 
diff --git a/sway/tree/view.c b/sway/tree/view.c
index fcdd06f7..3ab971f7 100644
--- a/sway/tree/view.c
+++ b/sway/tree/view.c
@@ -1285,8 +1285,7 @@ void view_update_title(struct sway_view *view, bool force) {
 		view->container->title = NULL;
 		view->container->formatted_title = NULL;
 	}
-	container_calculate_title_height(view->container);
-	config_update_font_height(false);
+	config_update_font_height();
 
 	// Update title after the global font height is updated
 	container_update_title_textures(view->container);