diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/from_html.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/from_html.py
index e576ca2a89..2acb41a444 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/from_html.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/from_html.py
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ class Block(object):
         self.keep_next = False
         self.runs = []
 
-    def add_text(self, text, style, ignore_leading_whitespace=False, html_parent=None):
-        ts = self.styles_manager.create_text_style(style)
+    def add_text(self, text, style, ignore_leading_whitespace=False, html_parent=None, is_parent_style=False):
+        ts = self.styles_manager.create_text_style(style, is_parent_style=is_parent_style)
         ws = style['white-space']
         if self.runs and ts == self.runs[-1].style:
             run = self.runs[-1]
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class Convert(object):
         if block_style.is_hidden:
             return
         if html_block.text:
-            docx_block.add_text(html_block.text, block_style, ignore_leading_whitespace=True)
+            docx_block.add_text(html_block.text, block_style, ignore_leading_whitespace=True, is_parent_style=True)
 
         for child in html_block.iterchildren(etree.Element):
             tag = barename(child.tag)
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ class Convert(object):
             if b is not self.blocks[-1]:
                 b = Block(self.styles_manager, html_block, block_style)
                 self.blocks.append(b)
-            b.add_text(html_block.tail, stylizer.style(html_block.getparent()))
+            b.add_text(html_block.tail, stylizer.style(html_block.getparent()), is_parent_style=True)
         if block_style['page-break-after'] == 'avoid':
             self.blocks[-1].keep_next = True
 
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ class Convert(object):
                     self.process_inline(child, self.blocks[-1], stylizer)
 
         if html_child.tail:
-            self.blocks[-1].add_text(html_child.tail, stylizer.style(html_child.getparent()), html_parent=html_child.getparent())
+            self.blocks[-1].add_text(html_child.tail, stylizer.style(html_child.getparent()), html_parent=html_child.getparent(), is_parent_style=True)
 
     def write(self):
         dn = {k:v for k, v in namespaces.iteritems() if k in {'w', 'r', 'm', 've', 'o', 'wp', 'w10', 'wne'}}
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/styles.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/styles.py
index 1294c8dd2f..37dffb38c8 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/styles.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/docx/writer/styles.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class TextStyle(DOCXStyle):
         x%edge for edge in border_edges for x in border_props)
     TYPE = 'character'
 
-    def __init__(self, css):
+    def __init__(self, css, is_parent_style=False):
         self.font_family = css_font_family_to_docx(css['font-family'])
         try:
             self.font_size = max(0, int(float(css['font-size']) * 2))  # stylizer normalizes all font sizes into pts
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class TextStyle(DOCXStyle):
         self.bold = fw.lower() in {'bold', 'bolder'} or int_or_zero(fw) >= 700
         self.italic = css['font-style'].lower() in {'italic', 'oblique'}
         self.color = convert_color(css['color'])
-        self.background_color = convert_color(css.backgroundColor)
+        self.background_color = None if is_parent_style else convert_color(css.backgroundColor)
         td = set((css.effective_text_decoration or '').split())
         self.underline = 'underline' in td
         self.dstrike = 'line-through' in td and 'overline' in td
@@ -149,12 +149,18 @@ class TextStyle(DOCXStyle):
             self.spacing = None
         self.vertical_align = css['vertical-align']
         for edge in border_edges:
-            # In DOCX padding can only be a positive integer
-            setattr(self, 'padding_' + edge, max(0, int(css['padding-' + edge])))
-            val = min(96, max(2, int({'thin':0.2, 'medium':1, 'thick':2}.get(css['border-%s-width' % edge], 0) * 8)))
-            setattr(self, 'border_%s_width' % edge, val)
-            setattr(self, 'border_%s_color' % edge, convert_color(css['border-%s-color' % edge]))
-            setattr(self, 'border_%s_style' % edge, LINE_STYLES.get(css['border-%s-style' % edge].lower(), 'none'))
+            if is_parent_style:
+                setattr(self, 'padding_' + edge, 0)
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_width' % edge, 0)
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_color' % edge, None)
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_style' % edge, 'none')
+            else:
+                # In DOCX padding can only be a positive integer
+                setattr(self, 'padding_' + edge, max(0, int(css['padding-' + edge])))
+                val = min(96, max(2, int({'thin':0.2, 'medium':1, 'thick':2}.get(css['border-%s-width' % edge], 0) * 8)))
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_width' % edge, val)
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_color' % edge, convert_color(css['border-%s-color' % edge]))
+                setattr(self, 'border_%s_style' % edge, LINE_STYLES.get(css['border-%s-style' % edge].lower(), 'none'))
 
         DOCXStyle.__init__(self)
 
@@ -331,8 +337,8 @@ class StylesManager(object):
     def __init__(self):
         self.block_styles, self.text_styles = {}, {}
 
-    def create_text_style(self, css_style):
-        ans = TextStyle(css_style)
+    def create_text_style(self, css_style, is_parent_style=False):
+        ans = TextStyle(css_style, is_parent_style=is_parent_style)
         existing = self.text_styles.get(ans, None)
         if existing is None:
             self.text_styles[ans] = ans