diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/generichighlighter/highlighter.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/generichighlighter/highlighter.cpp
index e7e5e713ab4..8ece3f462ed 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/generichighlighter/highlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/generichighlighter/highlighter.cpp
@@ -23,17 +23,19 @@
 **
 ****************************************************************************/
 
-#include "highlighter.h"
-#include "highlightdefinition.h"
 #include "context.h"
-#include "rule.h"
-#include "itemdata.h"
+#include "highlightdefinition.h"
+#include "highlighter.h"
 #include "highlighterexception.h"
+#include "itemdata.h"
 #include "progressdata.h"
 #include "reuse.h"
+#include "rule.h"
 #include "tabsettings.h"
 
 #include <coreplugin/messagemanager.h>
+#include <texteditor/fontsettings.h>
+#include <texteditor/texteditorsettings.h>
 #include <utils/qtcassert.h>
 
 #include <QCoreApplication>
@@ -567,7 +569,7 @@ void Highlighter::applyFormat(int offset,
             // think this approach would fit better. If there are other ideas...
             QBrush bg = format.background();
             if (bg.style() == Qt::NoBrush)
-                bg = formatForCategory(C_TEXT).background();
+                bg = TextEditorSettings::fontSettings().toTextCharFormat(C_TEXT).background();
             if (itemData->color().isValid() && isReadableOn(bg.color(), itemData->color()))
                 format.setForeground(itemData->color());
             if (itemData->isItalicSpecified())
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
index f72b563ca55..621df4f236d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
@@ -836,8 +836,12 @@ void SyntaxHighlighter::highlightBlock(const QString &text)
 
 void SyntaxHighlighterPrivate::updateFormats(const FontSettings &fontSettings)
 {
-    for (const auto &pair : qAsConst(formatCategories))
-        formats[pair.first] = fontSettings.toTextCharFormat(pair.second);
+    // C_TEXT is handled by text editor's foreground and background color,
+    // so use empty format for that
+    for (const auto &pair : qAsConst(formatCategories)) {
+        formats[pair.first] = pair.second == C_TEXT ? QTextCharFormat()
+                                                    : fontSettings.toTextCharFormat(pair.second);
+    }
     whitespaceFormat = fontSettings.toTextCharFormat(C_VISUAL_WHITESPACE);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.pro b/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.pro
index 3270181891e..d78de7871eb 100644
--- a/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.pro
+++ b/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.pro
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-QTC_PLUGIN_DEPENDS += coreplugin
+QTC_PLUGIN_DEPENDS += coreplugin texteditor
 include(../../qttest.pri)
 QT += gui
 PLUGINSDIR = $$IDE_SOURCE_TREE/src/plugins
diff --git a/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.qbs b/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.qbs
index 3ea2c0da683..b0abba77760 100644
--- a/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.qbs
+++ b/tests/auto/generichighlighter/highlighterengine/highlighterengine.qbs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ QtcAutotest {
     name: "Highlighter engine autotest"
     Depends { name: "Core" }
     Depends { name: "Utils" }
+    Depends { name: "TextEditor" }
     Depends { name: "Qt.widgets" }
     Group {
         name: "Sources from TextEditor plugin"