diff --git a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.cpp b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.cpp
index 4137c84e86..3715cae280 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.cpp
@@ -51,3 +51,26 @@ void AP_OSD_Backend::write(uint8_t x, uint8_t y, bool blink, const char *fmt, ..
     va_end(ap);
 #endif
 }
+
+/*
+  load a font from sdcard or ROMFS
+ */
+FileData *AP_OSD_Backend::load_font_data(uint8_t font_num)
+{
+    FileData *fd;
+
+    // first try from microSD
+    char fontname[] = "font0.bin";
+    fontname[4] = font_num + '0';
+
+    fd = AP::FS().load_file(fontname);
+    if (fd == nullptr) {
+        char fontname_romfs[] = "@ROMFS/font0.bin";
+        fontname_romfs[7+4] = font_num + '0';
+        fd = AP::FS().load_file(fontname_romfs);
+    }
+    if (fd == nullptr) {
+        GCS_SEND_TEXT(MAV_SEVERITY_ERROR, "OSD: Failed to load font %u", font_num);
+    }
+    return fd;
+}
diff --git a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.h b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.h
index afc3913e66..4fe7cd4696 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.h
+++ b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Backend.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 #include <AP_HAL/HAL.h>
 #include <AP_OSD/AP_OSD.h>
+#include <AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h>
 
 
 class AP_OSD_Backend
@@ -72,6 +73,9 @@ protected:
         return (_osd.options & option) != 0;
     }
 
+    // load a font from sdcard or ROMFS
+    FileData *load_font_data(uint8_t font_num);
+
     int8_t blink_phase;
 
     enum vid_format {
diff --git a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_MAX7456.cpp b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_MAX7456.cpp
index 3ee3ca036f..c4677aa7a1 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_MAX7456.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_MAX7456.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
 #include <AP_HAL/Util.h>
 #include <AP_HAL/Semaphores.h>
 #include <AP_HAL/Scheduler.h>
-#include <AP_ROMFS/AP_ROMFS.h>
+#include <AP_Filesystem/AP_Filesystem.h>
+#include <GCS_MAVLink/GCS.h>
 
 #include <utility>
 
@@ -157,13 +158,19 @@ bool AP_OSD_MAX7456::init()
 
 bool AP_OSD_MAX7456::update_font()
 {
-    uint32_t font_size;
     uint8_t updated_chars = 0;
-    char fontname[] = "font0.bin";
     last_font = get_font_num();
-    fontname[4] = last_font + '0';
-    const uint8_t *font_data = AP_ROMFS::find_decompress(fontname, font_size);
-    if (font_data == nullptr || font_size != NVM_RAM_SIZE * 256) {
+    FileData *fd = load_font_data(last_font);
+
+    if (fd == nullptr) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const uint8_t *font_data = fd->data;
+    uint32_t font_size = fd->length;
+    if (font_size != NVM_RAM_SIZE * 256) {
+        GCS_SEND_TEXT(MAV_SEVERITY_ERROR, "AP_OSD: bad font size %u\n", unsigned(font_size));
+        delete fd;
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -173,18 +180,13 @@ bool AP_OSD_MAX7456::update_font()
         if (!check_font_char(chr, chr_font_data)) {
             //update char inside max7456 NVM
             if (!update_font_char(chr, chr_font_data)) {
-                hal.console->printf("AP_OSD: error during font char update\n");
-                AP_ROMFS::free(font_data);
+                delete fd;
                 return false;
             }
             updated_chars++;
         }
     }
-    if (updated_chars > 0) {
-        hal.console->printf("AP_OSD: updated %d symbols.\n", updated_chars);
-    }
-    hal.console->printf("AP_OSD: osd font is up to date.\n");
-    AP_ROMFS::free(font_data);
+    delete fd;
     return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_SITL.cpp b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_SITL.cpp
index 59ccb88bb8..07762fef03 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_SITL.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_SITL.cpp
@@ -43,21 +43,13 @@ extern const AP_HAL::HAL &hal;
  */
 void AP_OSD_SITL::load_font(void)
 {
-    uint32_t font_size;
-    char fontname[] = "font0.bin";
     last_font = get_font_num();
-    fontname[4] = last_font + '0';
-    const uint8_t *font_data = AP_ROMFS::find_decompress(fontname, font_size);
-    if (font_data == nullptr && last_font != 0) {
-        last_font = 0;
-        fontname[4] = last_font + '0';
-        font_data = AP_ROMFS::find_decompress(fontname, font_size);
-    }
-    if (font_data == nullptr || font_size != 54 * 256) {
+    FileData *fd = load_font_data(last_font);
+    if (fd == nullptr || fd->length != 54 * 256) {
         AP_HAL::panic("Bad font file");
     }
     for (uint16_t i=0; i<256; i++) {
-        const uint8_t *c = &font_data[i*54];
+        const uint8_t *c = &fd->data[i*54];
         // each pixel is 4 bytes, RGBA
         sf::Uint8 *pixels = new sf::Uint8[char_width * char_height * 4];
         if (!font[i].create(char_width, char_height)) {
@@ -97,7 +89,7 @@ void AP_OSD_SITL::load_font(void)
         }
         font[i].update(pixels);
     }
-    AP_ROMFS::free(font_data);
+    delete fd;
 }
 
 void AP_OSD_SITL::write(uint8_t x, uint8_t y, const char* text)
diff --git a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Screen.cpp b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Screen.cpp
index c4e1c5d5b0..47beff5f71 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Screen.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_OSD/AP_OSD_Screen.cpp
@@ -1777,17 +1777,15 @@ void AP_OSD_Screen::draw_callsign(uint8_t x, uint8_t y)
 #if HAVE_FILESYSTEM_SUPPORT
     if (!callsign_data.load_attempted) {
         callsign_data.load_attempted = true;
-        int fd = AP::FS().open("callsign.txt", O_RDONLY);
-        if (fd != -1) {
-            char s[20] {};
-            int32_t len = AP::FS().read(fd, s, sizeof(s)-1);
+        FileData *fd = AP::FS().load_file("callsign.txt");
+        if (fd != nullptr) {
+            uint32_t len = fd->length;
             // trim off whitespace
-            while (len > 0 && isspace(s[len-1])) {
-                s[len-1] = 0;
+            while (len > 0 && isspace(fd->data[len-1])) {
                 len--;
             }
-            AP::FS().close(fd);
-            callsign_data.str = strdup(s);
+            callsign_data.str = strndup((const char *)fd->data, len);
+            delete fd;
         }
     }
     if (callsign_data.str != nullptr) {