diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 6452b1804d3..03ed7e55728 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Features added
   Patch by Rouslan Korneychuk.
 * 10938: doctest: Add :confval:`doctest_show_successes` option.
   Patch by Trey Hunner.
-* #11459: ```sphinx.ext.autodoc.preserve_defaults``: Add support for
+* #11459: ``sphinx.ext.autodoc.preserve_defaults``: Add support for
   ``async def`` functions and lambda functions.
   Patch by Bénédikt Tran.