diff --git a/esphome/components/font/__init__.py b/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
index 2bd6beeaeb..7e34dff22d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
@@ -137,11 +137,10 @@ def validate_weight_name(value):
 
 
 def download_gfonts(value):
-    wght = value[CONF_WEIGHT]
-    if value[CONF_ITALIC]:
-        wght = f"1,{wght}"
-    name = f"{value[CONF_FAMILY]}@{value[CONF_WEIGHT]}"
-    url = f"https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family={value[CONF_FAMILY]}:wght@{wght}"
+    name = (
+        f"{value[CONF_FAMILY]}:ital,wght@{int(value[CONF_ITALIC])},{value[CONF_WEIGHT]}"
+    )
+    url = f"https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family={name}"
 
     path = _compute_gfonts_local_path(value)
     if path.is_file():