diff --git a/modules/system/system.module b/modules/system/system.module
index cf1ff5a41b33b8f808df43d90574eaeb02ec0c5a..cadf534b9ea389e274607a722275d629672f843a 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.module
+++ b/modules/system/system.module
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ function system_site_information_settings() {
     '#type' => 'textfield',
     '#title' => t('Default front page'),
     '#default_value' => variable_get('site_frontpage', 'node'),
-    '#description' => t('The home page displays content from this relative URL. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "?q=". If unsure, specify "node".')
+    '#description' => t('The home page displays content from this relative URL. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "<code>?q=</code>". If unsure, specify "node".')
   );
 
   return system_settings_form($form);
@@ -555,14 +555,14 @@ function system_error_reporting_settings() {
     '#type' => 'textfield',
     '#title' => t('Default 403 (access denied) page'),
     '#default_value' => variable_get('site_403', ''),
-    '#description' => t('This page is displayed when the requested document is denied to the current user. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "?q=". If unsure, specify nothing.')
+    '#description' => t('This page is displayed when the requested document is denied to the current user. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "<code>?q=</code>". If unsure, specify nothing.')
   );
 
   $form['site_404'] = array(
     '#type' => 'textfield',
     '#title' => t('Default 404 (not found) page'),
     '#default_value' =>  variable_get('site_404', ''),
-    '#description' => t('This page is displayed when no other content matches the requested document. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "?q=". If unsure, specify nothing.')
+    '#description' => t('This page is displayed when no other content matches the requested document. If you are not using clean URLs, specify the part after "<code>?q=</code>". If unsure, specify nothing.')
   );
 
   $form['error_level'] = array(