diff --git a/man3/strftime.3 b/man3/strftime.3
index 62625673d..6ffda9486 100644
--- a/man3/strftime.3
+++ b/man3/strftime.3
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ Some buggy versions of
 .BR gcc (1)
 complain about the use of
 .BR %c :
-.IR "warning: `%c' yields only last 2 digits of year in some locales" .
+.IR "warning: \`%c\(aq yields only last 2 digits of year in some locales" .
 Of course programmers are encouraged to use
 .BR %c ,
 as it gives the preferred date and time representation.