diff --git a/gfx/thebes/gfxFcPlatformFontList.cpp b/gfx/thebes/gfxFcPlatformFontList.cpp
index a015845cde9..003dce59d96 100644
--- a/gfx/thebes/gfxFcPlatformFontList.cpp
+++ b/gfx/thebes/gfxFcPlatformFontList.cpp
@@ -1145,7 +1145,10 @@ gfxFcPlatformFontList::GetFontList(nsIAtom *aLangGroup,
 gfxFontFamily*
 gfxFcPlatformFontList::GetDefaultFont(const gfxFontStyle* aStyle)
 {
-    return FindGenericFamily(NS_LITERAL_STRING("serif"), nsGkAtoms::x_western);
+    // Get the default font by using a fake name to retrieve the first
+    // scalable font that fontconfig suggests for the given language.
+    return FindGenericFamily(NS_LITERAL_STRING("-moz-default"),
+                             aStyle->language);
 }
 
 gfxFontEntry*