diff --git a/doc/dlb.6 b/doc/dlb.6
index 058c6b42f..f70a3da41 100644
--- a/doc/dlb.6
+++ b/doc/dlb.6
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 ..
 .NB $NHDT-Branch: keni-gitset $
 .NR $NHDT-Revision: 1.13 $
+.\" groff and AT&T-descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns. 
+.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column, or
+.\" before/after last/first 2 characters of a word.
+.ie \n(.g .hy 12
+.el       .hy 14
 .ds Na Kenneth Lorber
 .SH NAME
 dlb \- NetHack data librarian
diff --git a/doc/makedefs.6 b/doc/makedefs.6
index 4c4a65dd6..4da8c4b43 100644
--- a/doc/makedefs.6
+++ b/doc/makedefs.6
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 ..
 .NB $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $
 .NR $NHDT-Revision: 1.22 $
+.\" groff and AT&T-descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns.
+.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column, or
+.\" before/after last/first 2 characters of a word.
+.ie \n(.g .hy 12
+.el       .hy 14
 .ds Na Kenneth Lorber
 .SH NAME
 makedefs \- NetHack miscellaneous build-time functions
diff --git a/doc/nethack.6 b/doc/nethack.6
index 735ffa46e..3c1c7f6c9 100644
--- a/doc/nethack.6
+++ b/doc/nethack.6
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 ..
 .NB $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $
 .NR $NHDT-Revision: 1.31 $
+.\" groff and AT&T-descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns.
+.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column, or
+.\" before/after last/first 2 characters of a word.
+.ie \n(.g .hy 12
+.el       .hy 14
 .ds Na Robert Patrick Rankin
 .SH NAME
 nethack \- Exploring The Mazes of Menace
diff --git a/doc/recover.6 b/doc/recover.6
index 9972ff6d6..488e9e33b 100644
--- a/doc/recover.6
+++ b/doc/recover.6
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 ..
 .NB $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $
 .NR $NHDT-Revision: 1.12 $
+.\" groff and AT&T-descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns. 
+.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column, or
+.\" before/after last/first 2 characters of a word.
+.ie \n(.g .hy 12
+.el       .hy 14
 .ds Na Kenneth Lorber
 .SH NAME
 recover \- recover a NetHack game interrupted by disaster
diff --git a/doc/tmac.nh b/doc/tmac.nh
index fce6f786d..86bc643b4 100644
--- a/doc/tmac.nh
+++ b/doc/tmac.nh
@@ -134,8 +134,9 @@
 \\$1\\$2
 ..
 .
-.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column.  groff and AT&T-
-.\" descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns.
-.ie \n(.g .hy 6
-.el       .hy 2
+.\" groff and AT&T-descended troffs use different hyphenation patterns.
+.\" Don't hyphenate the last word on a page or column, or
+.\" before/after last/first 2 characters of a word.
+.ie \n(.g .hy 12
+.el       .hy 14
 .\"tmac.nh/"