diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-bmp.html b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-bmp.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..789409a5673
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-bmp.html
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta charset="utf-8">
+<style type="text/css">
+/* font with the SVG glyph for the cat face U+1f431 remapped to
+   the BMP smiling-face character U+263a */
+@font-face { font-family: foo; src: url("resources/cat_face-bmp.ttf"); }
+body { font-family: foo, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; }
+td { padding: 2px 10px }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<table>
+<tr><td>&#x263a;</td><td>ネコ</td><td>cat face</td></tr>
+</table>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-notref.html b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-notref.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..187502f2096
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face-notref.html
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta charset="utf-8">
+<style type="text/css">
+/* no SVG cat-face glyph, so this should NOT match the testcases */
+body { font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 24px; }
+td { padding: 2px 10px }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<table>
+<tr><td>&#x263a;</td><td>ネコ</td><td>cat face</td></tr>
+</table>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face.html b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3adfc810297
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/cat_face.html
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta charset="utf-8">
+<style type="text/css">
+/* font with an SVG glyph for the cat face U+1f431 */
+@font-face { font-family: foo; src: url("resources/cat_face.ttf"); }
+body { font-family: foo, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; }
+td { padding: 2px 10px }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<table>
+<tr><td>&#x1f431;</td><td>ネコ</td><td>cat face</td></tr>
+</table>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/reftest.list b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/reftest.list
index 83f5518089d..3c976ad6aa8 100644
--- a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/reftest.list
+++ b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/reftest.list
@@ -17,3 +17,7 @@ pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)    random-if(winWidget) == sv
 pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)    == svg-glyph-cachedopacity.svg svg-glyph-cachedopacity-ref.svg
 pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)    == svg-glyph-objectvalue.svg svg-glyph-objectvalue-ref.svg
 pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)    fails == svg-glyph-mask.svg svg-glyph-mask-ref.svg # bug 872483
+
+# test for a non-BMP character in the glyphchar attribute (bug 875629)
+pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)  != cat_face-bmp.html cat_face-notref.html
+pref(gfx.font_rendering.opentype_svg.enabled,true)  == cat_face.html cat_face-bmp.html
diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face-bmp.ttf b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face-bmp.ttf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f5c080ba66d
Binary files /dev/null and b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face-bmp.ttf differ
diff --git a/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face.ttf b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face.ttf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e21617e15b5
Binary files /dev/null and b/layout/reftests/text-svgglyphs/resources/cat_face.ttf differ
