diff --git a/lisp/org-faces.el b/lisp/org-faces.el
index 1082310cc..12d58a549 100644
--- a/lisp/org-faces.el
+++ b/lisp/org-faces.el
@@ -311,6 +311,11 @@ Note that the variable `org-tag-faces' can be used to overrule this face for
 specific tags."
   :group 'org-faces)
 
+(defface org-list-dt
+  '((t (:bold t)))
+  "Default face for definition terms in lists."
+  :group 'org-faces)
+
 (defface org-todo ; font-lock-warning-face
   (org-compatible-face nil
     '((((class color) (min-colors 16) (background light)) (:foreground "Red1" :bold t))
diff --git a/lisp/org.el b/lisp/org.el
index 3fb2a96b4..ae3f44ce6 100644
--- a/lisp/org.el
+++ b/lisp/org.el
@@ -5893,7 +5893,7 @@ needs to be inserted at a specific position in the font-lock sequence.")
 		 (0 (org-get-checkbox-statistics-face) t)))
 	   ;; Description list items
 	   '("^[ \t]*[-+*][ \t]+\\(.*?[ \t]+::\\)\\([ \t]+\\|$\\)"
-	     1 'bold prepend)
+	     1 'org-list-dt prepend)
 	   ;; ARCHIVEd headings
 	   (list (concat
 		  org-outline-regexp-bol