diff --git a/man5/gai.conf.5 b/man5/gai.conf.5
index 5baa48190..296be51cd 100644
--- a/man5/gai.conf.5
+++ b/man5/gai.conf.5
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ For this reason,
 the RFC also requires that system administrators should have the possibility
 to dynamically change the sorting.
 For the glibc implementation, this can be achieved with the
-.IR /etc/gai.conf
+.I /etc/gai.conf
 file.
 .PP
 Each line in the configuration file consists of a keyword and its parameters.
diff --git a/man5/hosts.equiv.5 b/man5/hosts.equiv.5
index dc6756159..5356443ae 100644
--- a/man5/hosts.equiv.5
+++ b/man5/hosts.equiv.5
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ Disallow all users on all hosts in a
 Allow all users in a
 .I netgroup
 to log in from
-.IR host
+.I host
 as any non-root user:
 .PP
     host +@netgroup
diff --git a/man5/locale.5 b/man5/locale.5
index 0a4a9c23d..382109284 100644
--- a/man5/locale.5
+++ b/man5/locale.5
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ followed by the three-letter abbreviation of the language (ISO 639-2/T).
 followed by the three-letter abbreviation of the language for library
 use (ISO 639-2/B).
 Applications should in general prefer
-.IR lang_term
+.I lang_term
 over
 .IR lang_lib .
 .PP
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ The definition starts with the string
 in the first column.
 .PP
 Various keywords are allowed, but only
-.IR name_fmt
+.I name_fmt
 is mandatory.
 Other keywords are needed only if there is common convention to
 use the corresponding salutation in this locale.
@@ -1129,22 +1129,22 @@ The fields are to be defined as follows:
 .TP 4
 .I direction
 Either
-.BR +
+.B +
 or
-.BR -.
-.BR +
+.BR \- .
+.B +
 means the years closer to
-.IR start_date
+.I start_date
 have lower numbers than years closer to
 .IR end_date .
-.BR -
+.B \-
 means the opposite.
 .TP
 .I offset
 The number of the year closest to
-.IR start_date
+.I start_date
 in the era, corresponding to the
-.IR %Ey
+.I %Ey
 descriptor (see
 .BR strptime (3)).
 .TP
@@ -1157,12 +1157,12 @@ Years prior AD 1 are represented as negative numbers.
 The end of the era in the form of
 .IR yyyy/mm/dd ,
 or one of the two special values of
-.BR -*
+.B \-*
 or
 .BR +* .
-.BR -*
+.B \-*
 means the ending date is the beginning of time.
-.BR +*
+.B +*
 means the ending date is the end of time.
 .TP
 .I era_name
diff --git a/man5/nscd.conf.5 b/man5/nscd.conf.5
index 1a675b6ad..5da2a4b49 100644
--- a/man5/nscd.conf.5
+++ b/man5/nscd.conf.5
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ The default is 33554432.
 .I <yes|no>
 .RS
 When set to
-.IR no
+.I no
 for
 .I passwd
 or
@@ -218,14 +218,14 @@ or
 service, then the
 .I .byname
 requests are not added to
-.IR passwd.byuid
+.I passwd.byuid
 or
 .I group.bygid
 cache.
 This can help with tables containing multiple records for the same ID.
 The default is yes.
 This option is valid only for services
-.IR passwd
+.I passwd
 and
 .IR group .
 .RE
diff --git a/man5/nsswitch.conf.5 b/man5/nsswitch.conf.5
index dfaa4df89..11ff91207 100644
--- a/man5/nsswitch.conf.5
+++ b/man5/nsswitch.conf.5
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ For the
 .BR passwd ,
 .BR group ,
 and
-.BR shadow
+.B shadow
 databases, you can additionally specify
 "compat" (see
 .B "Compatibility mode"