diff --git a/manimpango/register_font.pxd b/manimpango/register_font.pxd
index ce3924a9..b9b64c61 100644
--- a/manimpango/register_font.pxd
+++ b/manimpango/register_font.pxd
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 
+from libc.stddef cimport wchar_t
+
+cdef extern from "Python.h":
+    wchar_t* PyUnicode_AsWideCharString(
+        object unicode,
+        Py_ssize_t* size
+    )
+
 cdef extern from "fontconfig/fontconfig.h":
     ctypedef int FcBool
     ctypedef struct FcConfig:
@@ -13,8 +21,7 @@ cdef extern from "fontconfig/fontconfig.h":
 # Windows and macOS specific API's
 IF UNAME_SYSNAME == "Windows":
     cdef extern from "windows.h":
-        ctypedef Py_UNICODE WCHAR
-        ctypedef const WCHAR* LPCWSTR
+        ctypedef const wchar_t* LPCWSTR
         ctypedef enum DWORD:
             FR_PRIVATE
         int AddFontResourceExW(
diff --git a/manimpango/register_font.pyx b/manimpango/register_font.pyx
index bb55cb79..5e121f04 100644
--- a/manimpango/register_font.pyx
+++ b/manimpango/register_font.pyx
@@ -97,8 +97,9 @@ ELIF UNAME_SYSNAME == "Windows":
         a=Path(font_path)
         assert a.exists(), f"font doesn't exist at {a.absolute()}"
         font_path = os.fspath(a.absolute())
+        cdef LPCWSTR wchar_path = PyUnicode_AsWideCharString(font_path, NULL)
         fontAddStatus = AddFontResourceExW(
-            <bytes>font_path,
+            wchar_path,
             FR_PRIVATE,
             0
         )
@@ -129,8 +130,9 @@ ELIF UNAME_SYSNAME == "Windows":
         a=Path(font_path)
         assert a.exists(), f"font doesn't exist at {a.absolute()}"
         font_path = os.fspath(a.absolute())
+        cdef LPCWSTR wchar_path = PyUnicode_AsWideCharString(font_path, NULL)
         return RemoveFontResourceExW(
-            <bytes>font_path,
+            wchar_path,
             FR_PRIVATE,
             0
         )