diff --git a/pypdf/annotations/_markup_annotations.py b/pypdf/annotations/_markup_annotations.py
index 580b8bf58..5d7da5659 100644
--- a/pypdf/annotations/_markup_annotations.py
+++ b/pypdf/annotations/_markup_annotations.py
@@ -103,12 +103,17 @@ def __init__(
         self[NameObject("/Subtype")] = NameObject("/FreeText")
         self[NameObject("/Rect")] = RectangleObject(rect)
 
+        # Table 225 of the 1.7 reference ("CSS2 style attributes used in rich text strings")
         font_str = "font: "
-        if bold:
-            font_str = f"{font_str}bold "
         if italic:
             font_str = f"{font_str}italic "
-        font_str = f"{font_str}{font} {font_size}"
+        else:
+            font_str = f"{font_str}normal "
+        if bold:
+            font_str = f"{font_str}bold "
+        else:
+            font_str = f"{font_str}normal "
+        font_str = f"{font_str}{font_size} {font}"
         font_str = f"{font_str};text-align:left;color:#{font_color}"
 
         default_appearance_string = ""
diff --git a/tests/test_annotations.py b/tests/test_annotations.py
index f6d14c5e4..c5df2328d 100644
--- a/tests/test_annotations.py
+++ b/tests/test_annotations.py
@@ -132,6 +132,26 @@ def test_free_text_annotation(pdf_file_path):
         writer.write(fp)
 
 
+def test_free_text_annotation__font_specifier():
+    free_text_annotation = FreeText(
+        text="Hello World",
+        rect=(0, 0, 0, 0),
+    )
+    assert free_text_annotation["/DS"] == "font: normal normal 14pt Helvetica;text-align:left;color:#000000"
+    free_text_annotation = FreeText(
+        text="Hello World",
+        rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
+        font="Arial",
+        bold=True,
+        italic=True,
+        font_size="20pt",
+        font_color="00ff00",
+        border_color=None,
+        background_color=None,
+    )
+    assert free_text_annotation["/DS"] == "font: italic bold 20pt Arial;text-align:left;color:#00ff00"
+
+
 def test_annotationdictionary():
     a = AnnotationDictionary()
     a.flags = 123