diff --git a/src/starkernel/hal/framebuffer.c b/src/starkernel/hal/framebuffer.c
index 052f5fe..07b6e1d 100644
--- a/src/starkernel/hal/framebuffer.c
+++ b/src/starkernel/hal/framebuffer.c
@@ -189,7 +189,10 @@ void fb_draw_glyph(uint32_t px, uint32_t py, uint8_t ch,
             uint32_t on     = (bits >> (7u - col)) & 1u;
             uint32_t packed = on ? pfg : pbg;
             uint32_t base_x = px + col  * g_fb.scale;
-            uint32_t base_y = py + row  * g_fb.scale;
+            /* font_8x16_data stores each glyph's scanlines bottom-to-top
+             * (FABRIC.md item 4.4f) -- row 0 is the glyph's bottom row, so
+             * it maps to the cell's last pixel row, not its first. */
+            uint32_t base_y = py + (15u - row) * g_fb.scale;
 
             /* pixel block for scale > 1 */
             for (sr = 0; sr < g_fb.scale; sr++) {