diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/set.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/set.sgml
index f0e6047e0b1..2218f54682e 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/set.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/set.sgml
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ SET [ SESSION | LOCAL ] TIME ZONE { <replaceable class="parameter">value</replac
     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>NAMES</literal></term>
      <listitem>
-      <para><literal>SET NAMES <replaceable>value</replaceable></literal> is an alias for
+      <para><literal>SET NAMES '<replaceable>value</replaceable>'</literal> is an alias for
        <literal>SET client_encoding TO <replaceable>value</replaceable></literal>.
       </para>
      </listitem>