diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/documentview.py b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/documentview.py
index 2e0fdd3c17..4042ef44f8 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/documentview.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/documentview.py
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ import os, math, json
 from base64 import b64encode
 from functools import partial
 
-from PyQt5.Qt import (QSize, QSizePolicy, QUrl, Qt, pyqtProperty,
-        QPainter, QPalette, QBrush, QDialog, QColor, QPoint, QImage, QRegion,
-        QIcon, QAction, QMenu, pyqtSignal, QApplication, pyqtSlot, QKeySequence)
+from PyQt5.Qt import (
+    QSize, QSizePolicy, QUrl, Qt, pyqtProperty, QPainter, QPalette, QBrush,
+    QDialog, QColor, QPoint, QImage, QRegion, QIcon, QAction, QMenu,
+    pyqtSignal, QApplication, pyqtSlot, QKeySequence, QMimeData)
 from PyQt5.QtWebKitWidgets import QWebPage, QWebView
 from PyQt5.QtWebKit import QWebSettings, QWebElement
 
@@ -674,7 +675,13 @@ class DocumentView(QWebView):  # {{{
         return self.document.selectedText().replace(u'\u00ad', u'').strip()
 
     def copy(self):
-        QApplication.clipboard().setText(self.selected_text)
+        self.document.triggerAction(self.document.Copy)
+        c = QApplication.clipboard()
+        html = c.text('html')[0].replace(u'\u00ad', u'').strip()
+        md = QMimeData()
+        md.setText(self.selected_text)
+        md.setHtml(html)
+        QApplication.clipboard().setMimeData(md)
 
     def selection_changed(self):
         if self.manager is not None: