--- gtkhtml/htmltext.c
+++ gtkhtml/htmltext.c
@@ -1196,13 +1196,8 @@ html_text_prepare_attrs (HTMLText *text, HTMLPainter *painter)
 	HTMLClueFlow *flow = NULL;
 	HTMLEngine *e = NULL;
 	PangoAttribute *attr;
-	PangoDirection dir,org_dir;
 
 	attrs = pango_attr_list_new ();
-	org_dir = pango_context_get_base_dir (painter->pango_context);
-	dir = html_text_get_pango_direction (text);
-	if (org_dir != dir)
-		pango_context_set_base_dir (painter->pango_context, dir);
 
 
 	if (HTML_OBJECT (text)->parent && HTML_IS_CLUEFLOW (HTML_OBJECT (text)->parent))
@@ -1213,11 +1208,6 @@ html_text_prepare_attrs (HTMLText *text, HTMLPainter *painter)
 
 	if (flow && e) {
 		html_text_add_cite_color (attrs, text, flow, e);
-		if (org_dir != dir) {
-			html_engine_freeze (e);
-                	flow->dir = html_text_direction_pango_to_html (dir);
-                	html_engine_thaw(e);
-		}
         }
 
 
