diff --git a/Documentation/asciidoc.conf b/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
index 6be8ba325..b5f0f29d1 100644
--- a/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
+++ b/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ plus=+
 caret=^
 startsb=[
 endsb=]
+backslash=\
 tilde=~
 apostrophe='
 backtick=`
diff --git a/Documentation/git-show-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-show-ref.txt
index 75780d7d6..4696af743 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-show-ref.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-show-ref.txt
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ OPTIONS
 --exclude-existing[=<pattern>]::
 
 	Make 'git show-ref' act as a filter that reads refs from stdin of the
-	form "^(?:<anything>\s)?<refname>(?:\^\{\})?$" and performs the
-	following actions on each:
+	form "^(?:<anything>\s)?<refname>(?:{backslash}{caret}\{\})?$"
+	and performs the following actions on each:
 	(1) strip "^{}" at the end of line if any;
 	(2) ignore if pattern is provided and does not head-match refname;
 	(3) warn if refname is not a well-formed refname and skip;