diff --git a/man3/basename.3 b/man3/basename.3
index 15027fc5f..bde147163 100644
--- a/man3/basename.3
+++ b/man3/basename.3
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ path    	dirname	basename
 /usr/   	/	usr
 usr     	.	usr
 /       	/	/
-\.       	.	.
-\..      	.	..
+\&.       	.	.
+\&..      	.	..
 .TE
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 Both