diff --git a/x.c b/x.c
index 2a3bd38..a36527b 100644
--- a/x.c
+++ b/x.c
@@ -985,6 +985,11 @@ xloadfonts(const char *fontstr, double fontsize)
 {
 	FcPattern *pattern;
 	double fontval;
+    /* Remove xft: prefix to work interchangeably with xterm config */
+    const int fontstrlen = strlen(fontstr);
+    if (fontstrlen > 4 && (strncmp(fontstr, "xft:", 4) == 0)) {
+        fontstr = fontstr+4;
+    }
 
 	if (fontstr[0] == '-')
 		pattern = XftXlfdParse(fontstr, False, False);