diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f1b8789656..96cb58d8c5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org).
 - Phase 1 of better namespace handling for Xlsx, resolving many open issues.
 [PR #2173](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/2173)
 [PR #2204](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/2204)
+[PR #2303](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/2303)
 - Add ability to extract images if source is a URL. [Issue #1997](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/1997) [PR #2072](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/2072)
 - Support for passing flags in the Reader `load()` and Writer `save()`methods, and through the IOFactory, to set behaviours. [PR #2136](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/2136)
   - See [documentation](https://phpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/reading-and-writing-to-file/) for details
diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
index 2bff7e1ed5..245c27d2d5 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
@@ -1675,46 +1675,63 @@ private function parseRichText(?SimpleXMLElement $is)
                     } else {
                         $objText = $value->createTextRun(StringHelper::controlCharacterOOXML2PHP((string) $run->t));
 
-                        if (isset($run->rPr->rFont['val'])) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setName((string) $run->rPr->rFont['val']);
+                        $attr = $run->rPr->rFont->attributes();
+                        if (isset($attr['val'])) {
+                            $objText->getFont()->setName((string) $attr['val']);
                         }
-                        if (isset($run->rPr->sz['val'])) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setSize((float) $run->rPr->sz['val']);
+                        $attr = $run->rPr->sz->attributes();
+                        if (isset($attr['val'])) {
+                            $objText->getFont()->setSize((float) $attr['val']);
                         }
                         if (isset($run->rPr->color)) {
                             $objText->getFont()->setColor(new Color(Styles::readColor($run->rPr->color)));
                         }
-                        if (
-                            (isset($run->rPr->b['val']) && self::boolean((string) $run->rPr->b['val'])) ||
-                            (isset($run->rPr->b) && !isset($run->rPr->b['val']))
-                        ) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setBold(true);
-                        }
-                        if (
-                            (isset($run->rPr->i['val']) && self::boolean((string) $run->rPr->i['val'])) ||
-                            (isset($run->rPr->i) && !isset($run->rPr->i['val']))
-                        ) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setItalic(true);
+                        if (isset($run->rPr->b)) {
+                            $attr = $run->rPr->b->attributes();
+                            if (
+                                (isset($attr['val']) && self::boolean((string) $attr['val'])) ||
+                                (!isset($attr['val']))
+                            ) {
+                                $objText->getFont()->setBold(true);
+                            }
                         }
-                        if (isset($run->rPr->vertAlign, $run->rPr->vertAlign['val'])) {
-                            $vertAlign = strtolower((string) $run->rPr->vertAlign['val']);
-                            if ($vertAlign == 'superscript') {
-                                $objText->getFont()->setSuperscript(true);
+                        if (isset($run->rPr->i)) {
+                            $attr = $run->rPr->i->attributes();
+                            if (
+                                (isset($attr['val']) && self::boolean((string) $attr['val'])) ||
+                                (!isset($attr['val']))
+                            ) {
+                                $objText->getFont()->setItalic(true);
                             }
-                            if ($vertAlign == 'subscript') {
-                                $objText->getFont()->setSubscript(true);
+                        }
+                        if (isset($run->rPr->vertAlign)) {
+                            $attr = $run->rPr->vertAlign->attributes();
+                            if (isset($attr['val'])) {
+                                $vertAlign = strtolower((string) $attr['val']);
+                                if ($vertAlign == 'superscript') {
+                                    $objText->getFont()->setSuperscript(true);
+                                }
+                                if ($vertAlign == 'subscript') {
+                                    $objText->getFont()->setSubscript(true);
+                                }
                             }
                         }
-                        if (isset($run->rPr->u) && !isset($run->rPr->u['val'])) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setUnderline(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Font::UNDERLINE_SINGLE);
-                        } elseif (isset($run->rPr->u, $run->rPr->u['val'])) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setUnderline((string) $run->rPr->u['val']);
+                        if (isset($run->rPr->u)) {
+                            $attr = $run->rPr->u->attributes();
+                            if (!isset($attr['val'])) {
+                                $objText->getFont()->setUnderline(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Font::UNDERLINE_SINGLE);
+                            } else {
+                                $objText->getFont()->setUnderline((string) $attr['val']);
+                            }
                         }
-                        if (
-                            (isset($run->rPr->strike['val']) && self::boolean((string) $run->rPr->strike['val'])) ||
-                            (isset($run->rPr->strike) && !isset($run->rPr->strike['val']))
-                        ) {
-                            $objText->getFont()->setStrikethrough(true);
+                        if (isset($run->rPr->strike)) {
+                            $attr = $run->rPr->strike->attributes();
+                            if (
+                                (isset($attr['val']) && self::boolean((string) $attr['val'])) ||
+                                (!isset($attr['val']))
+                            ) {
+                                $objText->getFont()->setStrikethrough(true);
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Reader/Xlsx/Issue2301Test.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Reader/Xlsx/Issue2301Test.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4484b9e095
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Reader/Xlsx/Issue2301Test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheetTests\Reader\Xlsx;
+
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\RichText\RichText;
+
+class Issue2301Test extends \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     */
+    private static $testbook = 'tests/data/Reader/XLSX/issue.2301.xlsx';
+
+    public static function testReadRichText(): void
+    {
+        $spreadsheet = IOFactory::load(self::$testbook);
+        $sheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
+        $value = $sheet->getCell('B45')->getValue();
+        self::assertInstanceOf(RichText::class, $value);
+        $richtext = $value->getRichTextElements();
+        $font = $richtext[1]->getFont();
+        self::assertNotNull($font);
+        self::assertSame('Arial CE', $font->getName());
+        self::assertSame(9.0, $font->getSize());
+        self::assertSame('protected', $sheet->getCell('BT10')->getStyle()->getProtection()->getHidden());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/data/Reader/XLSX/issue.2301.xlsx b/tests/data/Reader/XLSX/issue.2301.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..befbe8fcc2
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/Reader/XLSX/issue.2301.xlsx differ