diff --git a/library/Console-sdl-impl.cpp b/library/Console-sdl-impl.cpp
index f33ffc9aaef..60309f53219 100644
--- a/library/Console-sdl-impl.cpp
+++ b/library/Console-sdl-impl.cpp
@@ -1391,6 +1391,19 @@ class BMPFontLoader : public FontLoader {
             return nullptr;
         }
 
+        if (surface->format->format != SDL_PIXELFORMAT_INDEX8) {
+            SDL_Surface* conv_surface = SDL_ConvertSurfaceFormat(surface, SDL_PIXELFORMAT_INDEX8, 0);
+            if (!conv_surface) {
+                std::cerr << "Error converting surface format: " << SDL_GetError() << std::endl;
+                SDL_FreeSurface(surface);
+                return nullptr;
+            }
+
+            // Free the original surface and use the converted one
+            SDL_FreeSurface(surface);
+            surface = conv_surface;
+        }
+
         //  FIXME: hardcoded magenta
         Uint32 bg_color = sdl_console::SDL_MapRGB(surface->format, 255, 0, 255);
         sdl_console::SDL_SetColorKey(surface, SDL_TRUE, bg_color);