diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix b/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix
index 416a7fdba..92c7b1a31 100644
--- a/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix
+++ b/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ builtins:
 concatStrings (map
   (name:
     let builtin = builtins.${name}; in
-    "  - `builtins.${name}` " + concatStringsSep " " (map (s: "*${s}*") builtin.args)
-    + "  \n\n"
-    + concatStrings (map (s: "    ${s}\n") (splitLines builtin.doc)) + "\n\n"
+    "<dt><code>${name} "
+    + concatStringsSep " " (map (s: "<var>${s}</var>") builtin.args)
+    + "</code></dt>"
+    + "<dd>\n\n"
+    + builtin.doc
+    + "\n\n</dd>"
   )
   (attrNames builtins))
-
diff --git a/doc/manual/local.mk b/doc/manual/local.mk
index 271529b38..e25157af8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/local.mk
+++ b/doc/manual/local.mk
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ $(d)/conf-file.json: $(bindir)/nix
 $(d)/src/expressions/builtins.md: $(d)/builtins.json $(d)/generate-builtins.nix $(d)/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md $(bindir)/nix
 	@cat doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md > $@.tmp
 	$(trace-gen) $(nix-eval) --expr 'import doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix (builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile $<))' >> $@.tmp
+	@cat doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md >> $@.tmp
 	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
 $(d)/builtins.json: $(bindir)/nix
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
index c16b2805f..87127de2a 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ scope. Instead, you can access them through the `builtins` built-in
 value, which is a set that contains all built-in functions and values.
 For instance, `derivation` is also available as `builtins.derivation`.
 
-  - `derivation` *attrs*; `builtins.derivation` *attrs*\
-
-    `derivation` is described in [its own section](derivations.md).
-
+<dl>
+  <dt><code>derivation <var>attrs</var></code>;
+      <code>builtins.derivation <var>attrs</var></code></dt>
+  <dd><p><var>derivation</var> in described in
+         <a href="derivations.md">its own section</a>.</p></dd>
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a74db2857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+</dl>