diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Parsing.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Parsing.hs
index 430cfca89..4503e31fd 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Parsing.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Parsing.hs
@@ -921,10 +921,9 @@ data ParserState = ParserState
       stateHasChapters     :: Bool,          -- ^ True if \chapter encountered
       stateMacros          :: [Macro],       -- ^ List of macros defined so far
       stateRstDefaultRole  :: String,        -- ^ Current rST default interpreted text role
-      stateRstCustomRoles  :: M.Map String (String, Maybe String, Attr -> (String, Attr)), -- ^ Current rST custom text roles
+      stateRstCustomRoles  :: M.Map String (String, Maybe String, Attr), -- ^ Current rST custom text roles
       -- Triple represents: 1) Base role, 2) Optional format (only for :raw:
-      -- roles), 3) Source language annotation for code (could be used to
-      -- annotate role classes too).
+      -- roles), 3) Additional classes (rest of Attr is unused)).
       stateCaption         :: Maybe Inlines, -- ^ Caption in current environment
       stateInHtmlBlock     :: Maybe String,  -- ^ Tag type of HTML block being parsed
       stateMarkdownAttribute :: Bool,        -- ^ True if in markdown=1 context
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/RST.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/RST.hs
index 5d550f7b7..0a5c3bcb4 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/RST.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/RST.hs
@@ -625,25 +625,27 @@ addNewRole :: String -> [(String, String)] -> RSTParser Blocks
 addNewRole roleString fields = do
     (role, parentRole) <- parseFromString inheritedRole roleString
     customRoles <- stateRstCustomRoles <$> getState
-    baseRole <- case M.lookup parentRole customRoles of
-        Just (base, _, _) -> return base
-        Nothing -> return parentRole
+    let (baseRole, baseFmt, baseAttr) =
+            maybe (parentRole, Nothing, nullAttr) id $
+              M.lookup parentRole customRoles
 
-    let fmt = if baseRole == "raw" then lookup "format" fields else Nothing
-        annotate = maybe (addClass role) (addLanguage role) $
+    let fmt = if parentRole == "raw" then lookup "format" fields else baseFmt
+        -- nub in case role name & language class are the same
+        annotate :: [String] -> [String]
+        annotate = maybe id (:) $
             if baseRole == "code"
                then lookup "language" fields
                else Nothing
+        attr = let (ident, classes, keyValues) = baseAttr
+               in (ident, nub . (role :) . annotate $ classes, keyValues)
 
     updateState $ \s -> s {
         stateRstCustomRoles =
-          M.insert role (baseRole, fmt, (,) parentRole . annotate) customRoles
+          M.insert role (baseRole, fmt, attr) customRoles
     }
 
     return $ B.singleton Null
   where
-    addLanguage role lang (ident, classes, keyValues) =
-        (ident, nub ("sourceCode" : lang : role : classes), keyValues)
     inheritedRole =
         (,) <$> roleName <*> ((char '(' *> roleName <* char ')') <|> pure "span")
 
@@ -1014,12 +1016,10 @@ renderRole contents fmt role attr = case role of
     "span" -> return $ B.spanWith attr $ B.str contents
     "raw" -> return $ B.rawInline (fromMaybe "" fmt) contents
     custom -> do
-        customRole <- stateRstCustomRoles <$> getState
-        case M.lookup custom customRole of
-            Just (_, newFmt, inherit) -> let
-                fmtStr = fmt `mplus` newFmt
-                (newRole, newAttr) = inherit attr
-                in renderRole contents fmtStr newRole newAttr
+        customRoles <- stateRstCustomRoles <$> getState
+        case M.lookup custom customRoles of
+            Just (newRole, newFmt, newAttr) ->
+                renderRole contents newFmt newRole newAttr
             Nothing -> do
                 pos <- getPosition
                 addWarning (Just pos) $ "ignoring unknown role :" ++ custom ++ ": in "
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
index 9d5a8425b..1aaf4897f 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ tests = [ "line block with blank line" =:
             =?> para (codeWith ("", ["codeLike", "sourceCode"], []) "a")
           , "custom code role with language field"
             =: ".. role:: lhs(code)\n    :language: haskell\n\n:lhs:`a`"
-            =?> para (codeWith ("", ["sourceCode", "haskell", "lhs"], []) "a")
+            =?> para (codeWith ("", ["lhs", "haskell","sourceCode"], []) "a")
           , "custom role with unspecified parent role"
             =: ".. role:: classy\n\n:classy:`text`"
             =?> para (spanWith ("", ["classy"], []) "text")
diff --git a/tests/rst-reader.native b/tests/rst-reader.native
index 5d0c4faac..1f402f835 100644
--- a/tests/rst-reader.native
+++ b/tests/rst-reader.native
@@ -322,12 +322,12 @@ Pandoc (Meta {unMeta = fromList [("author",MetaList [MetaInlines [Str "John",Spa
 ,Null
 ,Para [Str "And",Space,Str "now",Space,Str "with",Space,RawInline (Format "html") "<b>inline</b> <span id=\"test\">HTML</span>",Str "."]
 ,Null
-,Para [Str "And",Space,Str "some",Space,Str "inline",Space,Str "haskell",Space,Code ("",["sourceCode","haskell"],[]) "fmap id [1,2..10]",Str "."]
+,Para [Str "And",Space,Str "some",Space,Str "inline",Space,Str "haskell",Space,Code ("",["haskell","sourceCode"],[]) "fmap id [1,2..10]",Str "."]
 ,Null
 ,Null
-,Para [Str "Indirect",Space,Str "python",Space,Str "role",Space,Code ("",["sourceCode","python","indirect"],[]) "[x*x for x in [1,2,3,4,5]]",Str "."]
+,Para [Str "Indirect",Space,Str "python",Space,Str "role",Space,Code ("",["python","indirect","sourceCode"],[]) "[x*x for x in [1,2,3,4,5]]",Str "."]
 ,Null
 ,Null
-,Para [Str "Different",Space,Str "indirect",Space,Str "C",Space,Code ("",["sourceCode","c","different-indirect"],[]) "int x = 15;",Str "."]
+,Para [Str "Different",Space,Str "indirect",Space,Str "C",Space,Code ("",["c","different-indirect","sourceCode"],[]) "int x = 15;",Str "."]
 ,Header 2 ("literal-symbols",[],[]) [Str "Literal",Space,Str "symbols"]
 ,Para [Str "2*2",Space,Str "=",Space,Str "4*1"]]