diff --git a/resources/templates/inline_toc_styles.css b/resources/templates/inline_toc_styles.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0319f6e88d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/templates/inline_toc_styles.css
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+li { list-style-type: none; padding-left: 2em; margin-left: 0}
+
+a { text-decoration: none }
+
+a:hover { color: red }
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/toc.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/toc.py
index 0a5744f64b..da90ccad88 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/toc.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/toc.py
@@ -540,10 +540,7 @@ def create_inline_toc(container, title=None):
     html = E.html(
         E.head(
             E.title(title),
-            E.style('''
-                li { list-style-type: none; padding-left: 2em; margin-left: 0}
-                a { text-decoration: none }
-                a:hover { color: red }''', type='text/css'),
+            E.style(P('templates/inline_toc_styles.css', data=True), type='text/css'),
         ),
         E.body(
             E.h2(title),