diff --git a/lib/widgets/content.dart b/lib/widgets/content.dart
index 5851222a1c..5304c1de33 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/content.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/content.dart
@@ -822,7 +822,7 @@ class MathBlock extends StatelessWidget {
         child: SingleChildScrollViewWithScrollbar(
           scrollDirection: Axis.horizontal,
           child: KatexWidget(
-            textStyle: ContentTheme.of(context).textStylePlainParagraph,
+            ambientTextStyle: ContentTheme.of(context).textStylePlainParagraph,
             nodes: nodes))));
   }
 }
@@ -1081,10 +1081,21 @@ class _InlineContentBuilder {
     _recognizer = _recognizerStack!.removeLast();
   }
 
-  InlineSpan _buildNodes(List<InlineContentNode> nodes, {required TextStyle? style}) {
+  final List<TextStyle> _styleStack = [];
+
+  TextStyle _resolveStyleStack() {
+    assert(_styleStack.isNotEmpty); // first item is `widget.style`
+    return _styleStack.reduce((value, element) => value.merge(element));
+  }
+
+  InlineSpan _buildNodes(List<InlineContentNode> nodes, {required TextStyle style}) {
+    _styleStack.add(style);
+    final children = nodes.map(_buildNode).toList(growable: false);
+    _styleStack.removeLast();
+
     return TextSpan(
       style: style,
-      children: nodes.map(_buildNode).toList(growable: false));
+      children: children);
   }
 
   InlineSpan _buildNode(InlineContentNode node) {
@@ -1123,7 +1134,7 @@ class _InlineContentBuilder {
 
       case UserMentionNode():
         return WidgetSpan(alignment: PlaceholderAlignment.middle,
-          child: UserMention(ambientTextStyle: widget.style, node: node));
+          child: UserMention(ambientTextStyle: _resolveStyleStack(), node: node));
 
       case UnicodeEmojiNode():
         return TextSpan(text: node.emojiUnicode, recognizer: _recognizer,
@@ -1145,11 +1156,11 @@ class _InlineContentBuilder {
           : WidgetSpan(
               alignment: PlaceholderAlignment.baseline,
               baseline: TextBaseline.alphabetic,
-              child: KatexWidget(textStyle: widget.style, nodes: nodes));
+              child: KatexWidget(ambientTextStyle: _resolveStyleStack(), nodes: nodes));
 
       case GlobalTimeNode():
         return WidgetSpan(alignment: PlaceholderAlignment.middle,
-          child: GlobalTime(node: node, ambientTextStyle: widget.style));
+          child: GlobalTime(node: node, ambientTextStyle: _resolveStyleStack()));
 
       case UnimplementedInlineContentNode():
         return _errorUnimplemented(node, context: _context!);
@@ -1341,7 +1352,7 @@ class GlobalTime extends StatelessWidget {
                 size: ambientTextStyle.fontSize!,
                 // (When GlobalTime appears in a link, it should be blue
                 // like the text.)
-                color: DefaultTextStyle.of(context).style.color!,
+                color: ambientTextStyle.color,
                 ZulipIcons.clock),
               // Ad-hoc spacing adjustment per feedback:
               //   https://chat.zulip.org/#narrow/stream/101-design/topic/clock.20icons/near/1729345
diff --git a/lib/widgets/katex.dart b/lib/widgets/katex.dart
index 4b4f39aa3f..b85b3e7f0d 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/katex.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/katex.dart
@@ -6,17 +6,36 @@ import 'package:flutter/rendering.dart';
 
 import '../model/content.dart';
 import '../model/katex.dart';
-import 'content.dart';
 
 /// Creates a base text style for rendering KaTeX content.
 ///
-/// This applies the CSS styles defined in .katex class in katex.scss :
+/// This cancels out some attributes that may be ambient from Zulip content
+/// (italic, bold, etc.)
+/// and applies the CSS styles defined in .katex class in katex.scss :
 ///   https://github.com/KaTeX/KaTeX/blob/613c3da8/src/styles/katex.scss#L13-L15
 ///
-/// Requires the [style.fontSize] to be non-null.
-TextStyle mkBaseKatexTextStyle(TextStyle style) {
-  return style.copyWith(
-    fontSize: style.fontSize! * 1.21,
+/// Requires the [ambientStyle.fontSize] to be non-null.
+TextStyle mkBaseKatexTextStyle(TextStyle ambientStyle) {
+  return ambientStyle.copyWith(
+    ////// Overrides of our own styles:
+
+    // Bold formatting is removed below by setting FontWeight.normal…
+    // Just for completeness, remove "wght", but it wouldn't do anything anyway
+    // since KaTeX_Main is not a variable-weight font.
+    fontVariations: [],
+    // Italic is removed below.
+
+    // Strikethrough is removed below, which affects formatting of rendered
+    // KatexSpanNodes…but a single strikethrough on the whole KatexWidget will
+    // be visible as long as it doesn't paint an opaque background. (The line
+    // "shows through" from an ancestor span.) I think we're happy with this:
+    // the message author asked for a strikethrough by wrapping the math in ~~,
+    // but we should render it as one unbroken line, not separate lines on each
+    // KaTeX span.
+
+    ////// From the .katex class in katex.scss:
+
+    fontSize: ambientStyle.fontSize! * 1.21,
     fontFamily: 'KaTeX_Main',
     height: 1.2,
     fontWeight: FontWeight.normal,
@@ -31,11 +50,11 @@ TextStyle mkBaseKatexTextStyle(TextStyle style) {
 class KatexWidget extends StatelessWidget {
   const KatexWidget({
     super.key,
-    required this.textStyle,
+    required this.ambientTextStyle,
     required this.nodes,
   });
 
-  final TextStyle textStyle;
+  final TextStyle ambientTextStyle;
   final List<KatexNode> nodes;
 
   @override
@@ -45,8 +64,7 @@ class KatexWidget extends StatelessWidget {
     return Directionality(
       textDirection: TextDirection.ltr,
       child: DefaultTextStyle(
-        style: mkBaseKatexTextStyle(textStyle).copyWith(
-          color: ContentTheme.of(context).textStylePlainParagraph.color),
+        style: mkBaseKatexTextStyle(ambientTextStyle),
         child: widget));
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/widgets/content_test.dart b/test/widgets/content_test.dart
index aef5ef3cc0..a1126938d5 100644
--- a/test/widgets/content_test.dart
+++ b/test/widgets/content_test.dart
@@ -763,6 +763,14 @@ void main() {
         });
     });
 
+    testWidgets('is italic in italic span', (tester) async {
+      // Regression test for: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-flutter/issues/1813
+      await prepareContent(tester,
+        plainContent('<p><em><span class="user-mention" data-user-id="13313">@Chris Bobbe</span></em></p>'));
+      final style = mergedStyleOf(tester, '@Chris Bobbe');
+      check(style!.fontStyle).equals(FontStyle.italic);
+    });
+
     testFontWeight('silent or non-self mention in plain paragraph',
       expectedWght: 400,
       // @_**Greg Price**
@@ -989,13 +997,22 @@ void main() {
 
     testContentSmoke(ContentExample.mathInline);
 
+    final mathInlineHtml = '<span class="katex">'
+      '<span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>λ</mi></mrow>'
+        '<annotation encoding="application/x-tex"> \\lambda </annotation></semantics></math></span>'
+      '<span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.6944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">λ</span></span></span></span>';
+
+    testWidgets('is link-colored in link span', (tester) async {
+      // Regression test for: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-flutter/issues/1823
+      await prepareContent(tester,
+        plainContent('<p><a href="https://example/">$mathInlineHtml</a></p>'));
+      final style = mergedStyleOf(tester, 'λ');
+      check(style!.color).equals(const HSLColor.fromAHSL(1, 200, 1, 0.4).toColor());
+    });
+
     testWidgets('maintains font-size ratio with surrounding text', (tester) async {
-      const html = '<span class="katex">'
-        '<span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>λ</mi></mrow>'
-          '<annotation encoding="application/x-tex"> \\lambda </annotation></semantics></math></span>'
-        '<span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.6944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">λ</span></span></span></span>';
       await checkFontSizeRatio(tester,
-        targetHtml: html,
+        targetHtml: mathInlineHtml,
         targetFontSizeFinder: (rootSpan) {
           late final double result;
           rootSpan.visitChildren((span) {
@@ -1081,7 +1098,19 @@ void main() {
       check(find.textContaining(renderedTextRegexpTwelveHour)).findsOne();
     });
 
-    void testIconAndTextSameColor(String description, String html) {
+    testWidgets('is italic in italic span', (tester) async {
+      // Regression test for: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-flutter/issues/1813
+      await prepareContent(tester,
+        // We use the self-account's time-format setting.
+        wrapWithPerAccountStoreWidget: true,
+        initialSnapshot: eg.initialSnapshot(),
+        plainContent('<p><em>$timeSpanHtml</em></p>'));
+      final style = mergedStyleOf(tester,
+        findAncestor: find.byType(GlobalTime), renderedTextRegexp);
+      check(style!.fontStyle).equals(FontStyle.italic);
+    });
+
+    void testIconAndTextSameColor(String description, String html, {Color? expectedColor}) {
       testWidgets('clock icon and text are the same color: $description', (tester) async {
         await prepareContent(tester,
           // We use the self-account's time-format setting.
@@ -1097,11 +1126,16 @@ void main() {
         check(textColor).isNotNull();
 
         check(icon).color.isNotNull().isSameColorAs(textColor!);
+        if (expectedColor != null) {
+          check(icon).color.equals(expectedColor);
+        }
       });
     }
 
     testIconAndTextSameColor('common case', '<p>$timeSpanHtml</p>');
-    testIconAndTextSameColor('inside link', '<p><a href="https://example/">$timeSpanHtml</a></p>');
+    // Regression test for: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-flutter/issues/1819
+    testIconAndTextSameColor('inside link', '<p><a href="https://example/">$timeSpanHtml</a></p>',
+      expectedColor: const HSLColor.fromAHSL(1, 200, 1, 0.4).toColor());
 
     group('maintains font-size ratio with surrounding text', () {
       Future<void> doCheck(WidgetTester tester, double Function(GlobalTime widget) sizeFromWidget) async {