diff --git a/crates/docx/src/read/styles.rs b/crates/docx/src/read/styles.rs
index 267fd9f15..b1d7388e6 100644
--- a/crates/docx/src/read/styles.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/src/read/styles.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ fn numbering_level_index(value: Option<&str>) -> Option<usize> {
         None => Some(0),
         Some(value) => int(value).filter(|level| (0..=8).contains(level)).map(|level| level as usize),
     }
+
+fn style_is_default(style: &El) -> bool {
+    style.attr("w:default").is_some_and(|value| !matches!(value.trim(), "0" | "false" | "off" | "False" | "FALSE"))
 }
 
 /// Built-in style names Word stores in lower case, and how the UI shows them.
@@ -67,9 +70,7 @@ impl Reader<'_> {
         // The default paragraph style must be called `Normal` in our model.
         let has_normal = root.children("w:style").any(|s| s.attr("w:styleId") == Some("Normal"));
         if !has_normal
-            && let Some(def) = root
-                .children("w:style")
-                .find(|s| s.attr("w:type") == Some("paragraph") && s.attr("w:default").is_some_and(|v| v == "1" || v == "true"))
+            && let Some(def) = root.children("w:style").find(|s| s.attr("w:type") == Some("paragraph") && style_is_default(s))
             && let Some(id) = def.attr("w:styleId")
         {
             self.pc.alias.insert(id.to_string(), "Normal".into());
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ impl Reader<'_> {
                 builtin: !s.attr("w:customStyle").is_some_and(|v| matches!(v.trim(), "1" | "true" | "on")),
                 locked: flag(s, "w:locked").unwrap_or(false),
                 // Only where the writer couldn't tell from the id (it flags the English ids).
-                default: s.attr("w:default").is_some_and(|v| v == "1" || v == "true")
+                default: style_is_default(s)
                     && !matches!(
                         (kind, id.as_str()),
                         (StyleKind::Paragraph, "Normal")
diff --git a/crates/docx/tests/it/undefined_style.rs b/crates/docx/tests/it/undefined_style.rs
index 48cf03410..8cb0c19be 100644
--- a/crates/docx/tests/it/undefined_style.rs
+++ b/crates/docx/tests/it/undefined_style.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ fn package(normal_id: &str) -> Vec<u8> {
 }
 
 fn package_with_default(normal_id: &str, is_default: bool) -> Vec<u8> {
+    package_with_body_default(normal_id, is_default, false)
+}
+
+fn package_with_body_default(normal_id: &str, is_default: bool, has_body_default: bool) -> Vec<u8> {
     let root = r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships"><Relationship Id="rId1" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/officeDocument" Target="word/document.xml"/></Relationships>"#;
     let doc = format!(
         r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><w:document xmlns:w="{W}" xmlns:r="{R}"><w:body><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val="Footer"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>body</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:r><w:t>normal</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:sectPr><w:footerReference w:type="default" r:id="rId2"/></w:sectPr></w:body></w:document>"#
@@ -21,8 +25,10 @@ fn package_with_default(normal_id: &str, is_default: bool) -> Vec<u8> {
         r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><w:ftr xmlns:w="{W}"><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val="Footer"/><w:jc w:val="center"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>1</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:ftr>"#
     );
     let default_attr = if is_default { r#" w:default="1""# } else { "" };
+    let body_style =
+        if has_body_default { r#"<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:default="on" w:styleId="Body"><w:name w:val="Body"/></w:style>"# } else { "" };
     let styles = format!(
-        r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><w:styles xmlns:w="{W}"><w:docDefaults><w:rPrDefault><w:rPr><w:sz w:val="24"/></w:rPr></w:rPrDefault><w:pPrDefault><w:pPr><w:spacing w:after="200"/></w:pPr></w:pPrDefault></w:docDefaults><w:style w:type="paragraph"{default_attr} w:styleId="{normal_id}"><w:name w:val="Normal"/><w:pPr><w:spacing w:before="20" w:after="40" w:line="259" w:lineRule="auto"/></w:pPr><w:rPr><w:sz w:val="26"/></w:rPr></w:style></w:styles>"#
+        r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><w:styles xmlns:w="{W}"><w:docDefaults><w:rPrDefault><w:rPr><w:sz w:val="24"/></w:rPr></w:rPrDefault><w:pPrDefault><w:pPr><w:spacing w:after="200"/></w:pPr></w:pPrDefault></w:docDefaults><w:style w:type="paragraph"{default_attr} w:styleId="{normal_id}"><w:name w:val="Normal"/><w:pPr><w:spacing w:before="20" w:after="40" w:line="259" w:lineRule="auto"/></w:pPr><w:rPr><w:sz w:val="26"/></w:rPr></w:style>{body_style}</w:styles>"#
     );
     let rels = r#"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships"><Relationship Id="rId1" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/styles" Target="styles.xml"/><Relationship Id="rId2" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/footer" Target="footer1.xml"/></Relationships>"#;
     let mut zw = zip::ZipWriter::new(std::io::Cursor::new(Vec::new()));
@@ -46,6 +52,13 @@ fn an_explicit_normal_style_is_the_default_even_without_w_default() {
     assert!(normal.default, "Word treats the explicitly declared built-in Normal style as the default");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn an_explicit_body_default_on_prevents_normal_inference() {
+    let doc = craft_docx::read(&package_with_body_default("Normal", false, true)).unwrap();
+    assert!(doc.styles.styles.iter().any(|style| style.id == "Body" && style.default));
+    assert!(!doc.styles.styles.iter().any(|style| style.id == "Normal" && style.default));
+}
+
 fn footer_para(d: &Document) -> &craft_wordmodel::Paragraph {
     let part = d.parts.values().find(|p| p.kind == PartKind::Footer).expect("a footer");
     match part.blocks.first().map(|b| &**b) {