diff --git a/src/excelbench/harness/adapters/wolfxl_adapter.py b/src/excelbench/harness/adapters/wolfxl_adapter.py
index c7b9b73..1f6d24f 100644
--- a/src/excelbench/harness/adapters/wolfxl_adapter.py
+++ b/src/excelbench/harness/adapters/wolfxl_adapter.py
@@ -36,7 +36,12 @@ def _color_to_hex(color: Any) -> str | None:
     if color is None:
         return None
 
-    rgb = getattr(color, "rgb", None)
+    if isinstance(color, str):
+        # WolfXL exposes fill colors as plain ARGB strings where openpyxl
+        # returns Color objects; both spellings normalize the same way.
+        rgb: Any = color
+    else:
+        rgb = getattr(color, "rgb", None)
     if isinstance(rgb, str) and len(rgb) >= 6:
         return f"#{rgb[2:]}" if len(rgb) == 8 else f"#{rgb}"
 
diff --git a/tests/test_wolfxl_adapter_roundtrip.py b/tests/test_wolfxl_adapter_roundtrip.py
index 7df91cd..7adb32d 100644
--- a/tests/test_wolfxl_adapter_roundtrip.py
+++ b/tests/test_wolfxl_adapter_roundtrip.py
@@ -209,3 +209,40 @@ def test_hyperlink_round_trip(adapter: Any, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
         assert any(link.get("target") == "https://example.com" for link in links)
     finally:
         adapter.close_workbook(reopened)
+
+
+def test_conditional_format_read_includes_rule_format(
+    adapter: Any, tmp_path: Path
+) -> None:
+    from openpyxl import Workbook
+    from openpyxl.formatting.rule import CellIsRule
+    from openpyxl.styles import PatternFill
+
+    src = Workbook()
+    ws = src.active
+    ws.title = "CF"
+    for row in range(1, 6):
+        ws.cell(row=row, column=2, value=row * 10)
+    ws.conditional_formatting.add(
+        "B2:B6",
+        CellIsRule(
+            operator="greaterThan",
+            formula=["25"],
+            fill=PatternFill(
+                start_color="00FFFF00", end_color="00FFFF00", fill_type="solid"
+            ),
+        ),
+    )
+    path = tmp_path / "cf.xlsx"
+    src.save(path)
+
+    workbook = adapter.open_workbook(path)
+    try:
+        rules = adapter.read_conditional_formats(workbook, "CF")
+    finally:
+        adapter.close_workbook(workbook)
+    assert len(rules) == 1
+    rule = rules[0]
+    assert rule["rule_type"] == "cellIs"
+    assert rule["operator"] == "greaterThan"
+    assert rule["format"] == {"bg_color": "#FFFF00"}