diff --git a/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/fallback.rs b/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/fallback.rs
index ad8acc538..13afffd07 100644
--- a/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/fallback.rs
+++ b/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/fallback.rs
@@ -118,9 +118,9 @@ pub(super) const KOREAN_SANS_FALLBACKS: &[&str] = &[
 pub fn sans_by_name(family: &str) -> Option<bool> {
     let lower = family.to_lowercase();
     let has = |needles: &[&str]| needles.iter().any(|n| lower.contains(n));
-    // Serif first: "Myungjo Gothic" does not exist, but a name holding both reads as the serif
-    // it names, and "Sans" inside "Noto Sans Myungjo" would otherwise win.
-    if has(&["batang", "myungjo", "myeongjo", "gungsuh", "serif", "\u{BC14}\u{D5D5}", "\u{BA85}\u{C870}", "\u{AD81}\u{C11C}"]) {
+    // A Korean serif name comes first: "Myungjo Gothic" does not exist, but a name holding both
+    // reads as the serif it names, and "Sans" inside "Noto Sans Myungjo" would otherwise win.
+    if has(&["batang", "myungjo", "myeongjo", "gungsuh", "\u{BC14}\u{D5D5}", "\u{BA85}\u{C870}", "\u{AD81}\u{C11C}"]) {
         return Some(false);
     }
     if has(&[
@@ -138,6 +138,11 @@ pub fn sans_by_name(family: &str) -> Option<bool> {
     ]) {
         return Some(true);
     }
+    // Only now the bare word, which "sans serif" and "sans-serif" end with and do not mean
+    // (noted in review): "Microsoft Sans Serif" is a sans face, and so is the CSS generic.
+    if lower.contains("serif") {
+        return Some(false);
+    }
     None
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/tests/fallback.rs b/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/tests/fallback.rs
index d385a8fd9..d9a5ee71c 100644
--- a/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/tests/fallback.rs
+++ b/crates/fonts/src/fontdb/tests/fallback.rs
@@ -176,6 +176,26 @@ fn a_korean_family_name_says_sans_or_serif() {
     }
 }
 
+/// "sans serif" ends with the word it is not. The bare "serif" needle matched first, so
+/// "Microsoft Sans Serif" -- and the CSS generic -- classified as serif and a missing Hangul
+/// glyph took the serif-first chain (noted in review of #1692).
+#[test]
+fn a_sans_serif_name_is_not_read_as_serif() {
+    for sans in ["sans-serif", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "MS Sans Serif", "Lucida Sans Serif"] {
+        assert_eq!(sans_by_name(sans), Some(true), "{sans} is sans");
+    }
+    // The bare word still decides a name that holds nothing else.
+    for serif in ["serif", "Source Serif 4", "DejaVu Serif", "Noto Serif KR"] {
+        assert_eq!(sans_by_name(serif), Some(false), "{serif} is serif");
+    }
+    // And a Korean serif name still outranks "Sans", which is why it is tested first of all.
+    assert_eq!(sans_by_name("Noto Sans Myungjo"), Some(false));
+    assert_eq!(sans_by_name("Myungjo Gothic"), Some(false));
+    // Neither word present, so the caller still decides.
+    assert_eq!(sans_by_name("monospace"), None);
+    assert_eq!(sans_by_name("system-ui"), None);
+}
+
 /// The reported bug is the order of the chain: on Windows the first installed entry of the
 /// serif-first chain is Batang, so every missing Dotum face came out serif (#1692).
 #[test]