diff --git a/less/core.less b/less/core.less
index 01d1910f7..71103b7ac 100644
--- a/less/core.less
+++ b/less/core.less
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 
 .@{fa-css-prefix} {
   display: inline-block;
-  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font: normal normal normal @fa-font-size-base/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
   font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
   text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
   -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
+
 }
diff --git a/less/mixins.less b/less/mixins.less
index b7bfadc79..b5e0702fc 100644
--- a/less/mixins.less
+++ b/less/mixins.less
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@
 
 .fa-icon() {
   display: inline-block;
-  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font: normal normal normal @fa-font-size-base/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
   font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
   text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
   -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
+
 }
 
 .fa-icon-rotate(@degrees, @rotation) {
diff --git a/less/variables.less b/less/variables.less
index c37d4f060..3ad986c52 100644
--- a/less/variables.less
+++ b/less/variables.less
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 @fa-font-path:        "../fonts";
+@fa-font-size-base:   14px;
 //@fa-font-path:        "//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.3.0/fonts"; // for referencing Bootstrap CDN font files directly
 @fa-css-prefix:       fa;
 @fa-version:          "4.3.0";
diff --git a/scss/_core.scss b/scss/_core.scss
index ca46d3712..217739f97 100644
--- a/scss/_core.scss
+++ b/scss/_core.scss
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 
 .#{$fa-css-prefix} {
   display: inline-block;
-  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font: normal normal normal #{$fa-font-size-base}/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
   font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
   text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
   -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
+
 }
diff --git a/scss/_mixins.scss b/scss/_mixins.scss
index a139dfb30..a7ad15052 100644
--- a/scss/_mixins.scss
+++ b/scss/_mixins.scss
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@
 
 @mixin fa-icon() {
   display: inline-block;
-  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font: normal normal normal #{$fa-font-size-base}/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
   font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
   text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
   -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
+
 }
 
 @mixin fa-icon-rotate($degrees, $rotation) {
diff --git a/scss/_variables.scss b/scss/_variables.scss
index d31294ecb..b5d4e5e06 100644
--- a/scss/_variables.scss
+++ b/scss/_variables.scss
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 $fa-font-path:        "../fonts" !default;
+$fa-font-size-base:   14px !default;
 //$fa-font-path:        "//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.3.0/fonts" !default; // for referencing Bootstrap CDN font files directly
 $fa-css-prefix:       fa !default;
 $fa-version:          "4.3.0" !default;
diff --git a/src/_includes/code/core.css b/src/_includes/code/core.less
similarity index 62%
rename from src/_includes/code/core.css
rename to src/_includes/code/core.less
index 5294d52e8..7b5414eff 100644
--- a/src/_includes/code/core.css
+++ b/src/_includes/code/core.less
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
   display: inline-block;
-  font: normal normal normal 14px/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font: normal normal normal @fa-font-size-base/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
   font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
   text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
-  -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
\ No newline at end of file
+  -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
diff --git a/src/_includes/code/core.scss b/src/_includes/code/core.scss
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bb01e0b7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/code/core.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+  display: inline-block;
+  font: normal normal normal #{$fa-font-size-base}/1 FontAwesome; // shortening font declaration
+  font-size: inherit; // can't have font-size inherit on line above, so need to override
+  text-rendering: auto; // optimizelegibility throws things off #1094
+  -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
+  -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/core.less b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/core.less
index c13c937ef..d299d0d03 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/core.less
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/core.less
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@
 // -------------------------
 
 .@{fa-css-prefix} {
-{% include code/core.css %}
+{% include code/core.less %}
 }
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/mixins.less b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/mixins.less
index c61bb5b44..064f6bc0b 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/mixins.less
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/mixins.less
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 .fa-icon() {
-{% include code/core.css %}
+{% include code/core.less %}
 }
 
 .fa-icon-rotate(@degrees, @rotation) {
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/variables.less b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/variables.less
index 349e6323f..a5cf5de25 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/less/variables.less
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/less/variables.less
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 @fa-font-path:        "../fonts";
+@fa-font-size-base:   14px;
 //@fa-font-path:        "//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/{{site.fontawesome.version}}/fonts"; // for referencing Bootstrap CDN font files directly
 @fa-css-prefix:       {{ site.fontawesome.css_prefix }};
 @fa-version:          "{{ site.fontawesome.version }}";
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_core.scss b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_core.scss
index 1de151546..45e548bac 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_core.scss
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_core.scss
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@
 // -------------------------
 
 .#{$fa-css-prefix} {
-{% include code/core.css %}
+{% include code/core.scss %}
 }
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_mixins.scss b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_mixins.scss
index 0f84bb9ee..500659b7b 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_mixins.scss
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_mixins.scss
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 @mixin fa-icon() {
-{% include code/core.css %}
+{% include code/core.scss %}
 }
 
 @mixin fa-icon-rotate($degrees, $rotation) {
diff --git a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_variables.scss b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_variables.scss
index 53b0a6f4b..0d483d116 100644
--- a/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_variables.scss
+++ b/src/assets/font-awesome/scss/_variables.scss
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 // --------------------------
 
 $fa-font-path:        "../fonts" !default;
+$fa-font-size-base:   14px !default;
 //$fa-font-path:        "//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/{{site.fontawesome.version}}/fonts" !default; // for referencing Bootstrap CDN font files directly
 $fa-css-prefix:       {{ site.fontawesome.css_prefix }} !default;
 $fa-version:          "{{ site.fontawesome.version }}" !default;