diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/plugins/pdf_output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/plugins/pdf_output.py
index 2a8f0bc603..e835adbe21 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/plugins/pdf_output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/plugins/pdf_output.py
@@ -243,13 +243,10 @@ class PDFOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
                             self.oeb.container.write(path, nraw)
 
     def convert_text(self, oeb_book):
-        from calibre.ebooks.metadata.opf2 import OPF
-        from calibre.ebooks.pdf.render.from_html import PDFWriter
-
-        self.log.debug('Serializing oeb input to disk for processing...')
+        from calibre.ebooks.pdf.html_writer import convert
         self.get_cover_data()
-
         self.process_fonts()
+
         if self.opts.pdf_use_document_margins and self.stored_page_margins:
             import json
             for href, margins in iteritems(self.stored_page_margins):
@@ -263,39 +260,5 @@ class PDFOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
             from calibre.customize.ui import plugin_for_output_format
             oeb_output = plugin_for_output_format('oeb')
             oeb_output.convert(oeb_book, oeb_dir, self.input_plugin, self.opts, self.log)
-
             opfpath = glob.glob(os.path.join(oeb_dir, '*.opf'))[0]
-            opf = OPF(opfpath, os.path.dirname(opfpath))
-
-            self.write(PDFWriter, [s.path for s in opf.spine], getattr(opf,
-                'toc', None))
-
-    def write(self, Writer, items, toc):
-        writer = Writer(self.opts, self.log, cover_data=self.cover_data,
-                toc=toc)
-        writer.report_progress = self.report_progress
-
-        close = False
-        if not hasattr(self.output_path, 'write'):
-            close = True
-            if not os.path.exists(os.path.dirname(self.output_path)) and os.path.dirname(self.output_path) != '':
-                os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(self.output_path))
-            out_stream = open(self.output_path, 'wb')
-        else:
-            out_stream = self.output_path
-
-        out_stream.seek(0)
-        out_stream.truncate()
-        self.log.debug('Rendering pages to PDF...')
-        import time
-        st = time.time()
-        if False:
-            import cProfile
-            cProfile.runctx('writer.dump(items, out_stream, PDFMetadata(self.metadata))',
-                        globals(), locals(), '/tmp/profile')
-        else:
-            writer.dump(items, out_stream, PDFMetadata(self.metadata))
-        self.log('Rendered PDF in %g seconds:'%(time.time()-st))
-
-        if close:
-            out_stream.close()
+            convert(opfpath, self.log, self.opts)
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/html_writer.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/html_writer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e89b37d43b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/html_writer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python2
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+# License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2019, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals
+
+import os
+
+from PyQt5.QtWebEngineWidgets import QWebEnginePage
+
+from calibre.ebooks.oeb.polish.container import Container as ContainerBase
+from calibre.ebooks.oeb.polish.split import merge_html
+from calibre.gui2.webengine import secure_webengine
+
+
+class Container(ContainerBase):
+
+    tweak_mode = True
+    is_dir = True
+
+    def __init__(self, opf_path, log, root_dir=None):
+        ContainerBase.__init__(self, root_dir or os.path.dirname(opf_path), opf_path, log)
+
+
+class Renderer(QWebEnginePage):
+
+    def __init__(self, opts):
+        QWebEnginePage.__init__(self)
+        secure_webengine(self)
+        s = self.settings()
+        s.setAttribute(s.JavascriptEnabled, True)
+        s.setFontSize(s.DefaultFontSize, opts.pdf_default_font_size)
+        s.setFontSize(s.DefaultFixedFontSize, opts.pdf_mono_font_size)
+        s.setFontSize(s.MinimumLogicalFontSize, 8)
+        s.setFontSize(s.MinimumFontSize, 8)
+        std = {'serif':opts.pdf_serif_family, 'sans':opts.pdf_sans_family,
+        'mono':opts.pdf_mono_family}.get(opts.pdf_standard_font,
+                opts.pdf_serif_family)
+        if std:
+            s.setFontFamily(s.StandardFont, std)
+        if opts.pdf_serif_family:
+            s.setFontFamily(s.SerifFont, opts.pdf_serif_family)
+        if opts.pdf_sans_family:
+            s.setFontFamily(s.SansSerifFont, opts.pdf_sans_family)
+        if opts.pdf_mono_family:
+            s.setFontFamily(s.FixedFont, opts.pdf_mono_family)
+
+
+def convert(opf_path, log, opts):
+    container = Container(opf_path, log)
+    spine_names = [name for name in container.spine_names]
+    master = spine_names[0]
+    if len(spine_names) > 1:
+        merge_html(container, spine_names, master)
+
+    container.commit()
+    index_file = container.name_to_abspath(master)
+    index_file