diff --git a/doc/makedefs.6 b/doc/makedefs.6
index fd6fe8941..3cc5926df 100644
--- a/doc/makedefs.6
+++ b/doc/makedefs.6
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ makedefs \- NetHack miscellaneous build-time functions
 .I file
 .BI \-\- command
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.PP
 .B Makedefs
 is a build-time tool used for a variety of
 .BR NetHack (6)
diff --git a/doc/mnh.7 b/doc/mnh.7
index dd3b7e7a8..77c8d9bfb 100644
--- a/doc/mnh.7
+++ b/doc/mnh.7
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ mnh \- additional text formatting macros for the NetHack Guidebook
 .\".B "troff  \-mn"
 .\"[ options ]  file  ...
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.PP
 This package of
 .IR nroff (1)
 and
@@ -43,7 +42,6 @@ mn(7)
 .SH AUTHOR
 Pat Rankin
 .SH REQUESTS
-.PP
 In the
 .I Note
 column,
diff --git a/doc/nethack.6 b/doc/nethack.6
index 35a92e8bf..92f813796 100644
--- a/doc/nethack.6
+++ b/doc/nethack.6
@@ -154,7 +154,6 @@ Also
 .\" Make sure path is not hyphenated below
 .hw nethackdir
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.PP
 .I NetHack
 is a display oriented Dungeons & Dragons(tm) - like game.
 The standard tty display and command structure resemble rogue.
@@ -363,9 +362,6 @@ and the
 .B \-\-no\-nethackrc
 option can be used to skip any run-time configuration file.
 .PP
-.\" extra blank line
-.br
-.PP
 Some options provide feedback and then exit rather than play the game:
 .PP
 The
@@ -428,7 +424,6 @@ Use
 .RB \(oq "nethack \-\-usage | more" \(cq
 to read it a page at a time.
 .SH AUTHORS
-.PP
 Jay Fenlason (+ Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne) wrote the
 original hack, very much like rogue (but full of bugs).
 .PP
@@ -670,10 +665,8 @@ can be used in debugging (wizard) mode.
 .I \%DEBUGFILES
 can be used if the program was built with 'DEBUG' enabled.
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
-.PP
 recover(6)
 .SH BUGS
-.PP
 Probably infinite.
 .SH COPYRIGHT
 .\" All troffs and nroffs support `\(co` except Plan 9 nroff, but Plan 9
diff --git a/doc/recover.6 b/doc/recover.6
index cf116e09d..b7298c015 100644
--- a/doc/recover.6
+++ b/doc/recover.6
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ recover \- recover a NetHack game interrupted by disaster
 ]
 .I "base1 base2" ...
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.PP
 Occasionally, a NetHack game will be interrupted by disaster
 when the game or the system crashes.
 Prior to NetHack v3.1, these games were lost because various information
@@ -122,7 +121,6 @@ In either case,
 .I recover
 is easily compiled from the distribution utility directory.
 .SH NOTES
-.PP
 Like
 .I nethack
 itself,
@@ -138,7 +136,6 @@ will find them in the uncompressed form.
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 nethack(6)
 .SH BUGS
-.PP
 .I recover
 makes no attempt to find out if a base name specifies a game in progress.
 If multiple machines share a playground, this would be impossible to