diff --git a/clib.json b/clib.json
index a3b05f86..e704fda7 100644
--- a/clib.json
+++ b/clib.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "nuklear",
-  "version": "4.12.7",
+  "version": "4.12.8",
   "repo": "Immediate-Mode-UI/Nuklear",
   "description": "A small ANSI C gui toolkit",
   "keywords": ["gl", "ui", "toolkit"],
diff --git a/nuklear.h b/nuklear.h
index 71b55a24..b17cf9c3 100644
--- a/nuklear.h
+++ b/nuklear.h
@@ -23805,13 +23805,16 @@ nk_widget_text(struct nk_command_buffer *o, struct nk_rect b,
     if (!o || !t) return;
 
     b.h = NK_MAX(b.h, 2 * t->padding.y);
-    label.x = 0; label.w = 0;
-    label.y = b.y + t->padding.y;
-    label.h = NK_MIN(f->height, b.h - 2 * t->padding.y);
 
     text_width = f->width(f->userdata, f->height, (const char*)string, len);
     text_width += (2.0f * t->padding.x);
 
+    /* use top-left alignment by default */
+    if (!(a & (NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_CENTERED | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_RIGHT)))
+        a |= NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT;
+    if (!(a & (NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_BOTTOM)))
+        a |= NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP;
+
     /* align in x-axis */
     if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT) {
         label.x = b.x + t->padding.x;
@@ -23825,16 +23828,20 @@ nk_widget_text(struct nk_command_buffer *o, struct nk_rect b,
     } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_RIGHT) {
         label.x = NK_MAX(b.x + t->padding.x, (b.x + b.w) - (2 * t->padding.x + (float)text_width));
         label.w = (float)text_width + 2 * t->padding.x;
-    } else return;
+    }
 
     /* align in y-axis */
-    if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE) {
+    if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP) {
+        label.y = b.y + t->padding.y;
+        label.h = NK_MIN(f->height, b.h - 2 * t->padding.y);
+    } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE) {
         label.y = b.y + b.h/2.0f - (float)f->height/2.0f;
         label.h = NK_MAX(b.h/2.0f, b.h - (b.h/2.0f + f->height/2.0f));
     } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_BOTTOM) {
         label.y = b.y + b.h - f->height;
         label.h = f->height;
     }
+
     nk_draw_text(o, label, (const char*)string, len, f, t->background, t->text);
 }
 NK_LIB void
@@ -30716,6 +30723,9 @@ nk_tooltipfv(struct nk_context *ctx, const char *fmt, va_list args)
 ///   - [y]: Minor version with non-breaking API and library changes
 ///   - [z]: Patch version with no direct changes to the API
 ///
+/// - 2025/10/08 (4.12.8) - Fix nk_widget_text to use NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT by default,
+///                         instead of silently failing when no x-axis alignment is provided,
+///                         and refactor this function to keep the code style consistent
 /// - 2025/04/06 (4.12.7) - Fix text input navigation and mouse scrolling
 /// - 2025/03/29 (4.12.6) - Fix unitialized data in nk_input_char
 /// - 2025/03/05 (4.12.5) - Fix scrolling knob also scrolling parent window, remove dead code
diff --git a/src/CHANGELOG b/src/CHANGELOG
index 300c3d40..513b4a90 100644
--- a/src/CHANGELOG
+++ b/src/CHANGELOG
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 ///   - [y]: Minor version with non-breaking API and library changes
 ///   - [z]: Patch version with no direct changes to the API
 ///
+/// - 2025/10/08 (4.12.8) - Fix nk_widget_text to use NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT by default,
+///                         instead of silently failing when no x-axis alignment is provided,
+///                         and refactor this function to keep the code style consistent
 /// - 2025/04/06 (4.12.7) - Fix text input navigation and mouse scrolling
 /// - 2025/03/29 (4.12.6) - Fix unitialized data in nk_input_char
 /// - 2025/03/05 (4.12.5) - Fix scrolling knob also scrolling parent window, remove dead code
diff --git a/src/nuklear_text.c b/src/nuklear_text.c
index 3df91498..4e3233f1 100644
--- a/src/nuklear_text.c
+++ b/src/nuklear_text.c
@@ -19,13 +19,16 @@ nk_widget_text(struct nk_command_buffer *o, struct nk_rect b,
     if (!o || !t) return;
 
     b.h = NK_MAX(b.h, 2 * t->padding.y);
-    label.x = 0; label.w = 0;
-    label.y = b.y + t->padding.y;
-    label.h = NK_MIN(f->height, b.h - 2 * t->padding.y);
 
     text_width = f->width(f->userdata, f->height, (const char*)string, len);
     text_width += (2.0f * t->padding.x);
 
+    /* use top-left alignment by default */
+    if (!(a & (NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_CENTERED | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_RIGHT)))
+        a |= NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT;
+    if (!(a & (NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE | NK_TEXT_ALIGN_BOTTOM)))
+        a |= NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP;
+
     /* align in x-axis */
     if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_LEFT) {
         label.x = b.x + t->padding.x;
@@ -39,16 +42,20 @@ nk_widget_text(struct nk_command_buffer *o, struct nk_rect b,
     } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_RIGHT) {
         label.x = NK_MAX(b.x + t->padding.x, (b.x + b.w) - (2 * t->padding.x + (float)text_width));
         label.w = (float)text_width + 2 * t->padding.x;
-    } else return;
+    }
 
     /* align in y-axis */
-    if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE) {
+    if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_TOP) {
+        label.y = b.y + t->padding.y;
+        label.h = NK_MIN(f->height, b.h - 2 * t->padding.y);
+    } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_MIDDLE) {
         label.y = b.y + b.h/2.0f - (float)f->height/2.0f;
         label.h = NK_MAX(b.h/2.0f, b.h - (b.h/2.0f + f->height/2.0f));
     } else if (a & NK_TEXT_ALIGN_BOTTOM) {
         label.y = b.y + b.h - f->height;
         label.h = f->height;
     }
+
     nk_draw_text(o, label, (const char*)string, len, f, t->background, t->text);
 }
 NK_LIB void