diff --git a/Doc/perl/distutils.perl b/Doc/perl/distutils.perl
index ab524bb..0bcd6ee 100644
--- a/Doc/perl/distutils.perl
+++ b/Doc/perl/distutils.perl
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 }
 
 sub do_cmd_filevar {
-    return use_wrappers(@_[0], '<font face="sans-serif"></i>', '</i></font>');
+    return use_wrappers(@_[0], '<font face="sans-serif"><i>', '</i></font>');
 }
 
 sub do_cmd_XXX {