diff --git a/guix/lint.scm b/guix/lint.scm
index d6d48ad27c..396ee01fed 100644
--- a/guix/lint.scm
+++ b/guix/lint.scm
@@ -743,7 +743,8 @@ (define (check-synopsis-length synopsis)
         '()))
 
   (define (check-proper-start synopsis)
-    (if (properly-starts-sentence? synopsis)
+    (if (or (properly-starts-sentence? synopsis)
+            (starts-with-texinfo-markup? synopsis))
         '()
         (list
          (make-warning package
diff --git a/tests/lint.scm b/tests/lint.scm
index df7042c470..6631034151 100644
--- a/tests/lint.scm
+++ b/tests/lint.scm
@@ -307,6 +307,12 @@ (define (warning-contains? str warnings)
       (check-synopsis-style pkg)))
    string<?))
 
+(test-equal "synopsis: starts with texinfo markup"
+  '()
+  (let ((pkg (dummy-package "x"
+                            (synopsis "@code{help}"))))
+    (check-synopsis-style pkg)))
+
 (test-equal "synopsis: too long"
   "synopsis should be less than 80 characters long"
   (single-lint-warning-message