diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 6deb3a0..2a74d6b 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ Imports:
     magrittr (>= 2.0.3),
     rlang (>= 1.1.0),
     shiny (>= 1.14.0),
-    systemfonts (>= 1.3.1),
     ROvis.utils
 Suggests: 
     covr (>= 3.6.4),
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index f45bc22..64f66a5 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -35,4 +35,3 @@ importFrom(shiny,
   HTML,
   tags
 )
-importFrom(systemfonts,system_fonts)
diff --git a/R/ROvis.table-package.R b/R/ROvis.table-package.R
index b26e89d..3d66aeb 100644
--- a/R/ROvis.table-package.R
+++ b/R/ROvis.table-package.R
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 #' @importFrom cli cli_abort
 #' @importFrom dplyr filter
 #' @importFrom magrittr %>%
-#' @importFrom systemfonts system_fonts
 #' @importFrom DT datatable
 #' @importFrom gt gt
 #' @importFrom ROvis.utils ro_check_if_font_available
diff --git a/R/ro_dt_theme.R b/R/ro_dt_theme.R
index a06a9fa..7f41116 100644
--- a/R/ro_dt_theme.R
+++ b/R/ro_dt_theme.R
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 #' @importFrom shiny tags HTML
 #' @importFrom ROvis.utils ro_check_if_font_available
 #'
-#' @param base_family Character. Font family to use for table text. Default is "Arial".
+#' @param base_family Character. Font family to use for table text. Default is
+#'   "RijksoverheidSansWebText". If not installed, Verdana is used, then Arial,
+#'   then the first font found on your device, whichever is installed first.
 #' @param sorting Logical. If \code{TRUE}, column headers are left-aligned;
 #'   if \code{FALSE}, right-aligned. Default is \code{FALSE}.
 #'
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@
 #' @examples
 #' if (interactive()) {
 #'   ui <- fluidPage(
-#'     ro_dt_theme(base_family = "Arial", sorting = FALSE),
+#'     ro_dt_theme(sorting = FALSE),
 #'     DTOutput("mytable")
 #'   )
 #'   server <- function(input, output, session) {
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ ro_dt_theme <- function(
   sorting = FALSE
 ) {
   check_string(base_family)
-  ro_check_if_font_available(base_family = base_family)
+  base_family <- ro_check_if_font_available(target_font_family = base_family)
 
   if (sorting) {
     header_align <- "left"
diff --git a/R/ro_gt_theme.R b/R/ro_gt_theme.R
index ab8eff7..6f5fa3b 100644
--- a/R/ro_gt_theme.R
+++ b/R/ro_gt_theme.R
@@ -7,12 +7,13 @@
 #' @importFrom gt gt tab_options cols_align sub_missing opt_row_striping
 #'   tab_style cells_title cell_text cells_column_labels cells_row_groups
 #'   cells_body everything where px
-#' @importFrom systemfonts system_fonts
+#' @importFrom ROvis.utils ro_check_if_font_available
 #' @importFrom ROvis.utils ro_color
 #'
 #' @param df  Dataframe.
 #' @param ROfont Default is FALSE, will change to TRUE for next major release (1.0.0).
-#'  If Rijksoverheid font is not available on your device, Verdana will be used.
+#'  If Rijksoverheid font is not available on your device, Verdana is used, then Arial,
+#'  then the first font found on your device, whichever is installed first.
 #' @param ... For internal use. Leave empty.
 #' @family gt
 #' @return gt table object.
@@ -27,13 +28,15 @@ ro_gt_theme <- function(df, ROfont = FALSE, ...) {
   check_data_frame(df)
   check_bool(ROfont)
 
-  if (
-    ROfont &&
-      "RijksoverheidSansWebText" %in% system_fonts()$family
-  ) {
-    font <- "RijksoverheidSansWebText"
+  # RO font usage is opt-in until it becomes the default in the next major
+  # release (1.0.0), so don't surface RO-font-specific messaging until then.
+  if (ROfont) {
+    font <- ro_check_if_font_available("RijksoverheidSansWebText")
   } else {
-    font <- "Verdana"
+    font <- suppressMessages(ro_check_if_font_available("RijksoverheidSansWebText"))
+    if (identical(font, "RijksoverheidSansWebText")) {
+      font <- "Verdana"
+    }
   }
 
   gt(df, ...) |>
diff --git a/man/ro_dt_theme.Rd b/man/ro_dt_theme.Rd
index 2b96c91..32f4d49 100644
--- a/man/ro_dt_theme.Rd
+++ b/man/ro_dt_theme.Rd
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 ro_dt_theme(base_family = "RijksoverheidSansWebText", sorting = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{base_family}{Character. Font family to use for table text. Default is "Arial".}
+\item{base_family}{Character. Font family to use for table text. Default is
+"RijksoverheidSansWebText". If not installed, Verdana is used, then Arial,
+then the first font found on your device, whichever is installed first.}
 
 \item{sorting}{Logical. If \code{TRUE}, column headers are left-aligned;
 if \code{FALSE}, right-aligned. Default is \code{FALSE}.}
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ following preliminary Rijksoverheid huisstijl.
 \examples{
 if (interactive()) {
   ui <- fluidPage(
-    ro_dt_theme(base_family = "Arial", sorting = FALSE),
+    ro_dt_theme(sorting = FALSE),
     DTOutput("mytable")
   )
   server <- function(input, output, session) {
diff --git a/man/ro_gt_theme.Rd b/man/ro_gt_theme.Rd
index c60826f..904755c 100644
--- a/man/ro_gt_theme.Rd
+++ b/man/ro_gt_theme.Rd
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ ro_gt_theme(df, ROfont = FALSE, ...)
 \item{df}{Dataframe.}
 
 \item{ROfont}{Default is FALSE, will change to TRUE for next major release (1.0.0).
-If Rijksoverheid font is not available on your device, Verdana will be used.}
+If Rijksoverheid font is not available on your device, Verdana is used, then Arial,
+then the first font found on your device, whichever is installed first.}
 
 \item{...}{For internal use. Leave empty.}
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-ro_dt_theme.R b/tests/testthat/test-ro_dt_theme.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2fb769
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-ro_dt_theme.R
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+test_that("ro_dt_theme applies the font resolved by ro_check_if_font_available", {
+  local_mocked_bindings(
+    ro_check_if_font_available = function(target_font_family) "Verdana"
+  )
+  css <- ro_dt_theme()$children[[1]]$children[[1]]
+  expect_true(grepl("Verdana", css, fixed = TRUE))
+})
+
+test_that("ro_dt_theme errors for an unavailable custom font", {
+  expect_error(
+    ro_dt_theme(base_family = "Not an installed font"),
+    "Can't find"
+  )
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-ro_gt_theme.R b/tests/testthat/test-ro_gt_theme.R
index 1a7bfcc..8d38dc2 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-ro_gt_theme.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-ro_gt_theme.R
@@ -15,3 +15,32 @@ gt_object_test <- mtcars |>
 test_that("output is a gt object", {
   expect_identical(class(gt_object_test)[1], "gt_tbl")
 })
+
+test_that("ro_gt_theme stays quiet about font resolution by default", {
+  local_mocked_bindings(
+    ro_check_if_font_available = function(base_family) {
+      message("mocked font message")
+      "Verdana"
+    }
+  )
+  expect_no_message(mtcars |> ro_gt_theme())
+})
+
+test_that("ro_gt_theme surfaces the font message when ROfont = TRUE", {
+  local_mocked_bindings(
+    ro_check_if_font_available = function(base_family) {
+      message("mocked font message")
+      "Verdana"
+    }
+  )
+  expect_message(mtcars |> ro_gt_theme(ROfont = TRUE), "mocked font message")
+})
+
+test_that("ro_gt_theme does not use the RO font when ROfont = FALSE, even if installed", {
+  local_mocked_bindings(
+    ro_check_if_font_available = function(base_family) "RijksoverheidSansWebText"
+  )
+  html <- mtcars |> ro_gt_theme() |> gt::as_raw_html()
+  expect_true(grepl("Verdana", html, fixed = TRUE))
+  expect_false(grepl("RijksoverheidSansWebText", html, fixed = TRUE))
+})