diff --git a/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.cpp b/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.cpp
index 1f34186b..a0153155 100644
--- a/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.cpp
+++ b/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.cpp
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ void FontDecompressor::compactSingleGlyph(const uint8_t* alignedSrc, uint8_t* pa
   if (outBits > 0) packedDst[writeIdx] = outByte << (8 - outBits);
 }
 
-// --- getBitmap: page buffer → hot group → decompress ---
+// --- getBitmap: page buffer → transient malloc + decompress + compact ---
 
 const uint8_t* FontDecompressor::getBitmap(const EpdFontData* fontData, const EpdGlyph* glyph, uint32_t glyphIndex) {
   const uint32_t tStart = micros();
@@ -159,6 +159,12 @@ const uint8_t* FontDecompressor::getBitmap(const EpdFontData* fontData, const Ep
   stats.cacheMisses++;
   const EpdFontGroup& group = fontData->groups[groupIndex];
 
+  if (glyph->dataLength > HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE) {
+    LOG_ERR("FDC", "Glyph dataLength %u exceeds HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE %u", glyph->dataLength, HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE);
+    stats.getBitmapTimeUs += micros() - tStart;
+    return nullptr;
+  }
+
   if (group.uncompressedSize > stats.peakTempBytes) stats.peakTempBytes = group.uncompressedSize;
 
   uint8_t* groupBuf = static_cast<uint8_t*>(malloc(group.uncompressedSize));
@@ -174,13 +180,6 @@ const uint8_t* FontDecompressor::getBitmap(const EpdFontData* fontData, const Ep
     return nullptr;
   }
 
-  if (glyph->dataLength > HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE) {
-    LOG_ERR("FDC", "Glyph dataLength %u exceeds HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE %u", glyph->dataLength, HOT_GLYPH_BUF_SIZE);
-    free(groupBuf);
-    stats.getBitmapTimeUs += micros() - tStart;
-    return nullptr;
-  }
-
   uint32_t alignedOff = getAlignedOffset(fontData, groupIndex, glyphIndex);
   compactSingleGlyph(&groupBuf[alignedOff], _hotGlyphBuf, glyph->width, glyph->height);
   free(groupBuf);
@@ -348,6 +347,8 @@ int FontDecompressor::prewarmCache(const EpdFontData* fontData, const char* utf8
     if (!groupIdToPos) {
       LOG_ERR("FDC", "OOM: cannot allocate %u bytes for groupIdToPos map", fontData->groupCount);
       // Roll back this slot only (other slots from prior prewarmCache calls stay valid)
+      stats.pageBufferBytes -= totalBytes;
+      stats.pageGlyphsBytes -= glyphCount * sizeof(PageGlyphEntry);
       free(slot.buffer);
       free(slot.glyphs);
       slot = {};
diff --git a/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.h b/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.h
index e4bf5c05..8f574dba 100644
--- a/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.h
+++ b/lib/EpdFont/FontDecompressor.h
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ class FontDecompressor {
   void deinit();
 
   // Returns pointer to decompressed bitmap data for the given glyph.
-  // Checks the page buffer (from prewarm) first, then falls back to the hot group slot.
+  // Checks the page buffer (from prewarm) first and otherwise transiently
+  // allocates/decompresses the glyph's group into a temporary buffer and
+  // compacts the requested glyph. The returned pointer is valid only until the
+  // next getBitmap call or cache eviction; callers must copy bitmap data if a
+  // longer lifetime is required.
   const uint8_t* getBitmap(const EpdFontData* fontData, const EpdGlyph* glyph, uint32_t glyphIndex);
 
   // Free all cached data (page buffers).
diff --git a/lib/EpdFont/scripts/fontconvert.py b/lib/EpdFont/scripts/fontconvert.py
index 64f6c228..69b06c26 100755
--- a/lib/EpdFont/scripts/fontconvert.py
+++ b/lib/EpdFont/scripts/fontconvert.py
@@ -765,9 +765,14 @@ if compress:
     group_count = 0
     group_uncompressed = 0
 
-    for i, (props, packed) in enumerate(all_glyphs):
+    for i, (props, _) in enumerate(all_glyphs):
         sg = get_script_group(props.code_point)
         glyph_aligned_size = ((props.width + 3) // 4) * props.height if props.width > 0 and props.height > 0 else 0
+        if glyph_aligned_size > GROUP_MAX_UNCOMPRESSED_BYTES:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Glyph {i} (code point U+{props.code_point:04X}) single aligned size "
+                f"{glyph_aligned_size} exceeds GROUP_MAX_UNCOMPRESSED_BYTES={GROUP_MAX_UNCOMPRESSED_BYTES}"
+            )
         size_overflow = group_uncompressed + glyph_aligned_size > GROUP_MAX_UNCOMPRESSED_BYTES
 
         if sg != current_group_id or size_overflow:
diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub/ParsedText.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub/ParsedText.cpp
index ecac74c1..f24550c7 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub/ParsedText.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub/ParsedText.cpp
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ constexpr int MAX_COST = std::numeric_limits<int>::max();
 namespace {
 
 // Closing punctuation that should not have extra space inserted before it during justification.
-// Includes common closing brackets/quotes and sentence-ending marks.
+// Includes common closing brackets/quotes and sentence-ending marks. En/em dashes
+// are also treated as inline separators here to avoid justification stretch
+// immediately before them.
 bool isClosingPunctuation(const uint32_t cp) {
   switch (cp) {
     case '.':
@@ -804,17 +806,16 @@ ParsedText::LineProcessResult ParsedText::extractLine(
     // Count gaps: each word after the first creates a gap, unless it's a continuation.
     // Gaps before closing punctuation (. , ) » etc.) are excluded from justification
     // distribution so they stay at natural space width.
+    const uint32_t firstCp = firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]);
     if (wordIdx > 0 && !continuesVec[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]) {
-      const bool beforeClosing = isClosingPunctuation(firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]));
+      const bool beforeClosing = isClosingPunctuation(firstCp);
       if (!beforeClosing) actualGapCount++;
-      totalNaturalGaps +=
-          renderer.getSpaceAdvance(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]),
-                                   firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]), wordStyles[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]);
+      totalNaturalGaps += renderer.getSpaceAdvance(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]), firstCp,
+                                                   wordStyles[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]);
     } else if (wordIdx > 0 && continuesVec[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]) {
       // Cross-boundary kerning for continuation words (e.g. nonbreaking spaces, attached punctuation)
-      totalNaturalGaps +=
-          renderer.getKerning(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]),
-                              firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]), wordStyles[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]);
+      totalNaturalGaps += renderer.getKerning(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]), firstCp,
+                                              wordStyles[lastBreakAt + wordIdx - 1]);
     }
   }
 
@@ -859,12 +860,12 @@ ParsedText::LineProcessResult ParsedText::extractLine(
     } else {
       int gap = 0;
       if (wordIdx + 1 < lineWordCount) {
-        gap = renderer.getSpaceAdvance(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]),
-                                       firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx + 1]),
+        const uint32_t nextFirstCp = firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx + 1]);
+        gap = renderer.getSpaceAdvance(fontId, lastCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]), nextFirstCp,
                                        wordStyles[lastBreakAt + wordIdx]);
         // Don't stretch the gap before closing punctuation — it looks wrong with
         // extra space before ".", ")", "»" etc.
-        const bool nextIsClosing = isClosingPunctuation(firstCodepoint(words[lastBreakAt + wordIdx + 1]));
+        const bool nextIsClosing = isClosingPunctuation(nextFirstCp);
         if (blockStyle.alignment == CssTextAlign::Justify && !isLastLine && !nextIsClosing) {
           gap += justifyExtra;
         }