diff --git a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5 b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
index 6848bc9f271..138adc03b88 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
+++ b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ character and the rest of the line after it is ignored.
 To prevent special meaning, the
 .Ql #
 character may be escaped with
-.Ql \e\e ;
+.Ql \e ;
 in this case preceding
-.Ql \e\e
+.Ql \e
 is removed and
 .Ql #
 is treated as an ordinary character.