diff --git a/include/ALabel.hpp b/include/ALabel.hpp
index 201d640c..3e3690b1 100644
--- a/include/ALabel.hpp
+++ b/include/ALabel.hpp
@@ -87,8 +87,11 @@ class ALabel : public AModule {
   static void handleGtkMenuEvent(GtkMenuItem* menuitem, gpointer data);
 
  private:
-  std::optional<Glib::ustring> last_label_markup_;
-  std::optional<Glib::ustring> last_tooltip_markup_;
+  // Raw UTF-8 bytes, not Glib::ustring: ustring::operator== collates with
+  // g_utf8_collate(), which gives private-use codepoints (nerd-font icons)
+  // no collation weight, so two different icons compare equal.
+  std::optional<std::string> last_label_markup_;
+  std::optional<std::string> last_tooltip_markup_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace waybar
diff --git a/src/ALabel.cpp b/src/ALabel.cpp
index 84ac2052..752c80bd 100644
--- a/src/ALabel.cpp
+++ b/src/ALabel.cpp
@@ -147,22 +147,22 @@ ALabel::ALabel(const Json::Value& config, const std::string& name, const std::st
 auto ALabel::update() -> void { AModule::update(); }
 
 bool ALabel::setLabelMarkup(const Glib::ustring& markup) {
-  if (last_label_markup_ == markup) {
+  if (last_label_markup_ == markup.raw()) {
     return false;
   }
 
   label_.set_markup(markup);
-  last_label_markup_ = markup;
+  last_label_markup_ = markup.raw();
   return true;
 }
 
 bool ALabel::setTooltipMarkup(const Glib::ustring& markup) {
-  if (last_tooltip_markup_ == markup) {
+  if (last_tooltip_markup_ == markup.raw()) {
     return false;
   }
 
   label_.set_tooltip_markup(markup);
-  last_tooltip_markup_ = markup;
+  last_tooltip_markup_ = markup.raw();
   return true;
 }