diff --git a/man7/user_namespaces.7 b/man7/user_namespaces.7
index 4baf7aaac..0a670a6b7 100644
--- a/man7/user_namespaces.7
+++ b/man7/user_namespaces.7
@@ -439,12 +439,12 @@ maps to a range starting at 0 in the (nonexistent) parent namespace,
 and the length of the range is the largest 32-bit unsigned integer.
 (This deliberately leaves 4294967295 (the 32-bit signed \-1 value) unmapped.
 This is deliberate:
-.IR "(uid_t)\ -\1"
+.IR "(uid_t)\ \-1"
 is used in several interfaces (e.g.,
 .BR setreuid (2))
 as a way to specify "no user ID".
 Leaving
-.IR "(uid_t)\ -\1"
+.IR "(uid_t)\ \-1"
 unmapped and unusable guarantees that there will be no
 confusion when using these interfaces.
 .\"