diff --git a/lisp/htmlfontify.el b/lisp/htmlfontify.el
index e4d838d2968..7298dd447e8 100644
--- a/lisp/htmlfontify.el
+++ b/lisp/htmlfontify.el
@@ -1000,6 +1000,12 @@ to be merged by the user - `hfy-flatten-style' should do this."
                    parent
                    (hfy-face-to-style-i
                     (hfy-face-attr-for-class v hfy-display-class))))))
+        ;; The special value `reset' stands for the value of the
+        ;; corresponding attribute (KEY) of the ‘default’ face.
+        (when (eq val 'reset)
+          (setq val (plist-get
+                     (hfy-face-attr-for-class 'default hfy-display-class)
+                     key)))
         (setq this
               (if val (cl-case key
                        (:family         (hfy-family    val))