diff --git a/.Xdefaults b/.Xdefaults
index 968aa6d..bf75454 100644
--- a/.Xdefaults
+++ b/.Xdefaults
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ urxvt*matcher.button:  1
 ! Appearance
 urxvt.font: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:weight=medium:pixelsize=16
 urxvt.boldFont: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:weight=black:pixelsize=16
+urxvt.italicFont: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:slant=italic:pixelsize=16
 urxvt.transparent: true
 
 xterm*faceName: -misc-tamsyn-medium-r-normal-*-17-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*