diff --git a/felamimail/inc/class.uicompose.inc.php b/felamimail/inc/class.uicompose.inc.php
index 64356d7b52..21c78a5d48 100644
--- a/felamimail/inc/class.uicompose.inc.php
+++ b/felamimail/inc/class.uicompose.inc.php
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@
 			if($sessionData['mimeType'] == 'html' /*&& trim($sessionData['body'])==''*/) {
 				// User preferences for style
 				$font = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font'];
-				$font_size = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'];
+				$font_size = egw_ckeditor_config::font_size_from_prefs();
 				$font_span = '<span '.($font||$font_size?'style="':'').($font?'font-family:'.$font.'; ':'').';'.($font_size?'font-size:'.$font_size.'; ':'').'">'.'&nbsp;'.'</span>';
 				if (empty($font) && empty($font_size)) $font_span = '';
 			}
diff --git a/phpgwapi/inc/class.egw_ckeditor_config.inc.php b/phpgwapi/inc/class.egw_ckeditor_config.inc.php
index 305c1c091f..5ee250e181 100644
--- a/phpgwapi/inc/class.egw_ckeditor_config.inc.php
+++ b/phpgwapi/inc/class.egw_ckeditor_config.inc.php
@@ -49,10 +49,32 @@ class egw_ckeditor_config
 		72 => '72',
 	);
 	public static $font_unit_options = array(
-		'px' => 'px: display pixels',
 		'pt' => 'pt: points (1/72 inch)',
+		'px' => 'px: display pixels',
 	);
 
+	/**
+	 * Get font size from preferences
+	 *
+	 * @param array $prefs=null default $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']
+	 * @param string &$size=null on return just size, without unit
+	 * @param string &$unit=null on return just unit
+	 * @return string font-size including unit
+	 */
+	public static function font_size_from_prefs(array $prefs=null, &$size=null, &$unit=null)
+	{
+		if (is_null($prefs)) $prefs = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences'];
+
+		$size = $prefs['common']['rte_font_size'];
+		$unit = $prefs['common']['rte_font_unit'];
+		if (substr($size, -2) == 'px')
+		{
+			$unit = 'px';
+			$size = (string)(int)$size;
+		}
+		return $size.$unit;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Read language and country settings for the ckeditor and store them in static
 	 * variables
diff --git a/phpgwapi/inc/class.html.inc.php b/phpgwapi/inc/class.html.inc.php
index 2a4db989e1..e0eb2ac9e7 100644
--- a/phpgwapi/inc/class.html.inc.php
+++ b/phpgwapi/inc/class.html.inc.php
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ class html
 
 		// User preferences
 		$font = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font'];
-		$font_size = (string)(int)$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'];
+		$font_size = egw_ckeditor_config::font_size_from_prefs();
 
 		// we need to enable double encoding here, as ckEditor has to undo one level of encoding
 		// otherwise < and > chars eg. from html markup entered in regular (not source) input, will turn into html!
diff --git a/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php b/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
index a1726b1b32..73c1d8eb3c 100644
--- a/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
+++ b/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
@@ -97,20 +97,23 @@ class preferences_hooks
 			list(,$country) = explode('-',$lang);
 			if (empty($country)) $country = $lang;
 		}
-		// check for old rte_font_size pref including px and remove unit, px is default unit anyway
-		if (substr($GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'], -2) == 'px')
+		// check for old rte_font_size pref including px and split it in size and unit
+		if (!isset($GLOBALS['egw_setup']) &&
+			substr($GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'], -2) == 'px')
 		{
-			$prefs = new preferences($GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['account_id']);
+			$prefs = $GLOBALS['egw']->preferences;
 			foreach(array('user','default','forced') as $type)
 			{
 				if (substr($prefs->{$type}['common']['rte_font_size'], -2) == 'px')
 				{
-					$prefs->{$type}['common']['rte_font_size'] = (string)(int)$prefs->{$type}['common']['rte_font_size'];
+					egw_ckeditor_config::font_size_from_prefs($prefs->{$type}, $prefs->{$type}['common']['rte_font_size'],
+						$prefs->{$type}['common']['rte_font_unit']);
 					$prefs->save_repository(false, $type);
 				}
 			}
-			$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'] =
-				(string)(int)$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'];
+			egw_ckeditor_config::font_size_from_prefs($GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences'],
+				$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_size'],
+				$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['rte_font_unit']);
 		}
 		// Settings array for this app
 		$settings = array(
@@ -372,7 +375,7 @@ class preferences_hooks
 				'name'   => 'rte_font_unit',
 				'values' => array_map('lang', egw_ckeditor_config::$font_unit_options),
 				'help'   => 'Unit of displayed font sizes: either "px" as used eg. for web-pages or "pt" as used in text processing.',
-				'default'=> 'px',
+				'default'=> 'pt',
 				'xmlrpc' => True,
 				'admin'  => false
 			),