diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f9e5a5a95..fda90ac23 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ This can also be enabled programmatically with `warnings.simplefilter('default',
 ### Fixed
 - [`FPDF.table()`](https://pyfpdf.github.io/fpdf2/fpdf/fpdf.html#fpdf.fpdf.FPDF.table): the `colspan` setting has been fixed - [documentation](https://pyfpdf.github.io/fpdf2/Tables.html#column-span)
 - [`FPDF.image()`](https://pyfpdf.github.io/fpdf2/fpdf/fpdf.html#fpdf.fpdf.FPDF.image): allowing images path starting with `data` to be passed as input
+- the initial text color is preserved when using `FPDF.write_html()` - _cf._ [issue #846](https://github.com/PyFPDF/fpdf2/issues/846)
 ### Deprecated
 - the `center` optional parameter of [`FPDF.cell()`](https://pyfpdf.github.io/fpdf2/fpdf/fpdf.html#fpdf.fpdf.FPDF.cell) is **no more** deprecated, as it allows for horizontal positioning, which is different from text alignment control with `align="C"`
 
diff --git a/fpdf/html.py b/fpdf/html.py
index 0e6ea2765..db678cb32 100644
--- a/fpdf/html.py
+++ b/fpdf/html.py
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.bullet = []
         self.font_size = pdf.font_size_pt
         self.set_font(pdf.font_family or "times", size=self.font_size)
-        self.font_color = 0, 0, 0  # initialize font color, r,g,b format
+        self.font_color = tuple((255 * v for v in pdf.text_color.colors))
         self.heading_level = None
         self.heading_sizes = dict(**DEFAULT_HEADING_SIZES)
         self.heading_above = 0.2  # extra space above heading, relative to font size
diff --git a/test/html/html_preserve_initial_text_color.pdf b/test/html/html_preserve_initial_text_color.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49c907349
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/html/html_preserve_initial_text_color.pdf differ
diff --git a/test/html/test_html.py b/test/html/test_html.py
index 637cf87c1..040aa83dc 100644
--- a/test/html/test_html.py
+++ b/test/html/test_html.py
@@ -449,3 +449,12 @@ def test_html_custom_pre_code_font(tmp_path):  # issue 770
     pdf.add_page()
     pdf.write_html("<code> Cześć! </code>", pre_code_font="DejaVuSansMono")
     assert_pdf_equal(pdf, HERE / "html_custom_pre_code_font.pdf", tmp_path)
+
+
+def test_html_preserve_initial_text_color(tmp_path):  # issue 846
+    pdf = FPDF()
+    pdf.add_page()
+    pdf.set_text_color(200, 50, 50)
+    pdf.set_font(family="Helvetica", size=13)
+    pdf.write_html("one <font size=8>two</font> three")
+    assert_pdf_equal(pdf, HERE / "html_preserve_initial_text_color.pdf", tmp_path)