diff --git a/bin/ansible-doc b/bin/ansible-doc
index 5a708a421c3..aed7d4d23c7 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-doc
+++ b/bin/ansible-doc
@@ -190,8 +190,7 @@ def get_module_list_text(module_list):
                 desc = desc[:linelimit] + '...'
 
             if module.startswith('_'): # Handle deprecated
-                module = module[1:]
-                deprecated.append("%-*s %-*.*s" % (displace, module, linelimit, len(desc), desc))
+                deprecated.append("%-*s %-*.*s" % (displace, module[1:], linelimit, len(desc), desc))
             else:
                 text.append("%-*s %-*.*s" % (displace, module, linelimit, len(desc), desc))
         except: