diff --git a/.flake8 b/.flake8
index 0afde30b4a0e..715729f93b63 100644
--- a/.flake8
+++ b/.flake8
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ per-file-ignores =
     lib/matplotlib/backends/qt_editor/formlayout.py: F401, F403
     lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py: F401
     lib/matplotlib/cbook/deprecation.py: F401
-    lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py: E221, E251, E501
+    lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py: E501
     lib/matplotlib/image.py: F401, F403
     lib/matplotlib/lines.py: F401
     lib/matplotlib/mathtext.py: E221, E251
diff --git a/doc/api/font_manager_api.rst b/doc/api/font_manager_api.rst
index 24bfefe00d32..8b698bacf0fe 100644
--- a/doc/api/font_manager_api.rst
+++ b/doc/api/font_manager_api.rst
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@
    :undoc-members:
    :show-inheritance:
 
-
-
+.. autoclass:: FontEntry
+   :no-undoc-members:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
index 5cef1ce57c9d..5a9ed7953581 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #   - setWeights function needs improvement
 #   - 'light' is an invalid weight value, remove it.
 
+import dataclasses
 from functools import lru_cache
 import json
 import logging
@@ -342,35 +343,22 @@ def findSystemFonts(fontpaths=None, fontext='ttf'):
     return [fname for fname in fontfiles if os.path.exists(fname)]
 
 
-class FontEntry:
-    """
-    A class for storing Font properties.  It is used when populating
-    the font lookup dictionary.
-    """
-    def __init__(self,
-                 fname  ='',
-                 name   ='',
-                 style  ='normal',
-                 variant='normal',
-                 weight ='normal',
-                 stretch='normal',
-                 size   ='medium',
-                 ):
-        self.fname   = fname
-        self.name    = name
-        self.style   = style
-        self.variant = variant
-        self.weight  = weight
-        self.stretch = stretch
-        try:
-            self.size = str(float(size))
-        except ValueError:
-            self.size = size
+FontEntry = dataclasses.make_dataclass(
+    'FontEntry', [
+        ('fname', str, dataclasses.field(default='')),
+        ('name', str, dataclasses.field(default='')),
+        ('style', str, dataclasses.field(default='normal')),
+        ('variant', str, dataclasses.field(default='normal')),
+        ('weight', str, dataclasses.field(default='normal')),
+        ('stretch', str, dataclasses.field(default='normal')),
+        ('size', str, dataclasses.field(default='medium')),
+    ],
+    namespace={
+        '__doc__': """
+    A class for storing Font properties.
 
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return "<Font '%s' (%s) %s %s %s %s>" % (
-            self.name, os.path.basename(self.fname), self.style, self.variant,
-            self.weight, self.stretch)
+    It is used when populating the font lookup dictionary.
+    """})
 
 
 def ttfFontProperty(font):
@@ -630,16 +618,10 @@ class FontProperties:
     fontconfig.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self,
-                 family = None,
-                 style  = None,
-                 variant= None,
-                 weight = None,
-                 stretch= None,
-                 size   = None,
-                 fname  = None,  # if set, it's a hardcoded filename to use
-                 math_fontfamily = None,
-                 ):
+    def __init__(self, family=None, style=None, variant=None, weight=None,
+                 stretch=None, size=None,
+                 fname=None,  # if set, it's a hardcoded filename to use
+                 math_fontfamily=None):
         self._family = _normalize_font_family(rcParams['font.family'])
         self._slant = rcParams['font.style']
         self._variant = rcParams['font.variant']