diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
index a7cd52f..7d92c2a 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
@@ -270,21 +270,17 @@ FormField::getDefaultResources()
 std::string
 QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper::getDefaultAppearance()
 {
-    return m->getDefaultAppearance();
+    return m->default_appearance();
 }
 
 std::string
-FormField::getDefaultAppearance()
+FormField::default_appearance() const
 {
-    auto value = inheritable_value<QPDFObjectHandle>("/DA");
-    bool looked_in_acroform = false;
-    if (!value.isString()) {
-        value = from_AcroForm("/DA");
-        looked_in_acroform = true;
+    if (auto DA = inheritable_value<String>("/DA")) {
+        return DA.utf8_value();
     }
-    if (value.isString()) {
-        QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper DA present", looked_in_acroform ? 0 : 1);
-        return value.getUTF8Value();
+    if (String DA = from_AcroForm("/DA")) {
+        return DA.utf8_value();
     }
     return {};
 }
@@ -939,7 +935,7 @@ FormField::generateTextAppearance(QPDFAnnotationObjectHelper& aoh)
         return;
     }
     QPDFObjectHandle::Rectangle bbox = bbox_obj.getArrayAsRectangle();
-    std::string DA = getDefaultAppearance();
+    std::string DA = default_appearance();
     std::string V = getValueAsString();
     std::vector<std::string> opt;
     if (isChoice() && (getFlags() & ff_ch_combo) == 0) {
diff --git a/libqpdf/qpdf/FormField.hh b/libqpdf/qpdf/FormField.hh
index 9dba5a6..c1361c3 100644
--- a/libqpdf/qpdf/FormField.hh
+++ b/libqpdf/qpdf/FormField.hh
@@ -200,11 +200,18 @@ namespace qpdf::impl
         // is not a string, the empty string will be silently returned.
         std::string getDefaultValueAsString();
 
-        // Return the default appearance string, taking inheritance from the field tree into
-        // account. Returns the empty string if the default appearance string is not available
-        // (because it's erroneously absent or because this is not a variable text field). If not
-        // found in the field hierarchy, look in /AcroForm.
-        std::string getDefaultAppearance();
+        /// @brief Returns the default appearance string for the form field, considering inheritance
+        ///        from the field tree hierarchy and the document's /AcroForm dictionary.
+        ///
+        /// This method retrieves the field's /DA (default appearance) attribute. If the attribute
+        /// is not directly available, it checks the parent fields in the hierarchy for an inherited
+        /// value. If no value is found in the field hierarchy, it attempts to retrieve the /DA
+        /// attribute from the document's /AcroForm dictionary. The method returns an empty string
+        /// if no default appearance string is available or applicable.
+        ///
+        /// @return A string representing the default appearance, or an empty string if
+        ///         no value is found.
+        std::string default_appearance() const;
 
         // Return the default resource dictionary for the field. This comes not from the field but
         // from the document-level /AcroForm dictionary. While several PDF generates put a /DR key
diff --git a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
index 66407cd..6c58745 100644
--- a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
+++ b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
@@ -175,7 +175,6 @@ QPDFObjectHandle numeric non-numeric 0
 QPDFObjectHandle erase array bounds 0
 qpdf-c called qpdf_check_pdf 0
 QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper Q present 1
-QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper DA present 1
 QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper field found 1
 QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper annotation found 1
 QPDFJob automatically set keep files open 1