diff --git a/src/hb-language.c b/src/hb-language.c
index ff25d7be41f833dc2029cd2f92aea1676aff5c03..5d7286b0fc1275480cca184ec3724f63e574a277 100644
--- a/src/hb-language.c
+++ b/src/hb-language.c
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ hb_language_from_string (const char *str)
   for (p = (unsigned char *) langs[i]; *p; p++)
     *p = canon_map[*p];
 
+  num_langs++;
+
   return (hb_language_t) langs[i];
 }