diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/Label.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/Label.java
index 473f675f..b3ca89e5 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/Label.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/Label.java
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ import com.samskivert.util.RunAnywhere;
 import com.samskivert.util.StringUtil;
 import com.samskivert.util.Tuple;
 
+import com.samskivert.swing.util.SwingUtil;
+
 import static com.samskivert.Log.log;
 
 /**
@@ -377,6 +379,10 @@ public class Label implements SwingConstants, LabelStyleConstants
         FontRenderContext frc = gfx.getFontRenderContext();
         List<Tuple<TextLayout,Rectangle2D>> layouts = null;
 
+        // if text antialiasing is enabled by default, honor that setting
+        Object oalias = SwingUtil.getDefaultTextAntialiasing() ?
+            SwingUtil.activateAntiAliasing(gfx) : null;
+
         // if we have a target height, do some processing and convert that into a target width
         if (_constraints.height > 0 || _constraints.width == -1) {
             int targetHeight = _constraints.height;
@@ -458,6 +464,9 @@ public class Label implements SwingConstants, LabelStyleConstants
                 _leaders[ii] = (float)-_lbounds[ii].getX();
             }
         }
+
+        // finally restore our antialiasing state
+        SwingUtil.restoreAntiAliasing(gfx, oalias);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/LabelSausage.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/LabelSausage.java
index 39626518..f31c0e0e 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/LabelSausage.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/LabelSausage.java
@@ -72,13 +72,10 @@ public abstract class LabelSausage
         }
 
         // lay out our label
-        if (SwingUtil.getDefaultTextAntialiasing()) {
-            Object oalias = SwingUtil.activateAntiAliasing(gfx);
-            _label.layout(gfx);
-            SwingUtil.restoreAntiAliasing(gfx, oalias);
-        } else {
-            _label.layout(gfx);
-        }
+        Object oalias = SwingUtil.getDefaultTextAntialiasing() ?
+            SwingUtil.activateAntiAliasing(gfx) : null;
+        _label.layout(gfx);
+        SwingUtil.restoreAntiAliasing(gfx, oalias);
 
         Dimension lsize = _label.getSize();
 
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/MultiLineLabel.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/MultiLineLabel.java
index 71ba8abd..b6e1e1cf 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/MultiLineLabel.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/MultiLineLabel.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import java.awt.Color;
 import java.awt.Dimension;
 import java.awt.Graphics2D;
 import java.awt.Graphics;
-import java.awt.RenderingHints;
 
 import javax.swing.JComponent;
 import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
@@ -88,13 +87,12 @@ public class MultiLineLabel extends JComponent
     }
 
     /**
-     * Sets whether this label's text should be rendered with anti-aliasing.
+     * @deprecated see {@link SwingUtil#getDefaultAntiAliasing} on how to control text
+     * antialiasing.
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public void setAntiAliased (boolean antialiased)
     {
-        _antialiased = antialiased;
-        _dirty = true;
-        repaint();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -245,14 +243,7 @@ public class MultiLineLabel extends JComponent
         }
 
         // draw the label
-        Object oalias = null;
-        if (_antialiased) {
-            oalias = SwingUtil.activateAntiAliasing(gfx);
-        }
         _label.render(gfx, dx, dy);
-        if (_antialiased) {
-            SwingUtil.restoreAntiAliasing(gfx, oalias);
-        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -323,9 +314,6 @@ public class MultiLineLabel extends JComponent
         Graphics2D gfx = (Graphics2D)getGraphics();
         if (gfx != null) {
             // re-layout the label
-            gfx.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_TEXT_ANTIALIASING, (_antialiased) ?
-                                 RenderingHints.VALUE_TEXT_ANTIALIAS_ON :
-                                 RenderingHints.VALUE_TEXT_ANTIALIAS_OFF);
             _label.layout(gfx);
             gfx.dispose();
 
@@ -385,9 +373,6 @@ public class MultiLineLabel extends JComponent
     /** The size to which we constrained ourselves when most recently laid out. */
     protected int _constrainedSize;
 
-    /** Whether to render the label with anti-aliasing. */
-    protected boolean _antialiased = SwingUtil.getDefaultTextAntialiasing();
-
     /** Whether this label is dirty and should be re-layed out. */
     protected boolean _dirty = true;
 }
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/SwingUtil.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/SwingUtil.java
index a832b3a8..819dce18 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/SwingUtil.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/SwingUtil.java
@@ -432,11 +432,15 @@ public class SwingUtil
     /**
      * Restores anti-aliasing in the supplied graphics context to its original setting.
      *
-     * @param rock the results of a previous call to {@link #activateAntiAliasing}.
+     * @param rock the results of a previous call to {@link #activateAntiAliasing} or null, in
+     * which case this method will NOOP. This alleviates every caller having to conditionally avoid
+     * calling restore if they chose not to activate earlier.
      */
     public static void restoreAntiAliasing (Graphics2D gfx, Object rock)
     {
-        gfx.setRenderingHints((RenderingHints)rock);
+        if (rock != null) {
+            gfx.setRenderingHints((RenderingHints)rock);
+        }
     }
 
     /**