diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 7fbe255..7b4a8bc 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -55,15 +55,15 @@ An easy way to install pylint is to use pip.
 Most python installs have pip, but if yours does not
 (e.g., Cygwin), install pip with:
 
-> python -m ensurepip
+`python -m ensurepip`
 
 You may want to upgrade pip with:
 
-> pip install --upgrade pip
+`pip install --upgrade pip`
 
 Finally, you can actually install pylint using:
 
-> pip install pylint
+`pip install pylint`
 
 ## Code Conventions
 
@@ -80,16 +80,12 @@ patches to improve that are often welcome.
 The code must run on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.
 To check that it works on both, run:
 
-~~~~
-make check
-~~~~
+`make check`
 
 We use "pylint" to check for style and other generic quality problems.
 To check that the code passes these quality tests, run:
 
-~~~~
-make pylint
-~~~~
+`make pylint`
 
 We require that the pylint results for contributions be at least 9.5/10 as
 configured with the provided "pylintrc" file, without any errors ("E").
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 274e40b..50a42ff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ command line tool.  It requires Python 2.7 or Python 3.
 If you just want to *use* it, you can install flawfinder with
 Python's "pip" or with your system's package manager (flawfinder has
 packages for many systems).  It also supports easy installation
-following usual "make install" source installation conventions.
+following usual `make install` source installation conventions.
 The file [INSTALL.txt](INSTALL.txt) has more detailed installation instructions.
 You don't HAVE to install it to run it, but it's easiest that way.
 
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ You don't HAVE to install it to run it, but it's easiest that way.
 To run flawfinder, just give it a list of source files or directories to
 example.  For example, to examine all files in "src/" and down recursively:
 
-  flawfinder src/
+`flawfinder src/`
 
 The manual page (flawfinder.1 or flawfinder.pdf) describes how to use
 flawfinder (including its various options) and related information
-(such as how it supports CWE).  For example, the "--html" option generates
-output in HTML format. The "--help" option gives a brief list of options.
+(such as how it supports CWE).  For example, the `--html` option generates
+output in HTML format. The `--help` option gives a brief list of options.
 
 # Under the hood
 
diff --git a/release_process.md b/release_process.md
index 92cb8fe..92d7c61 100644
--- a/release_process.md
+++ b/release_process.md
@@ -15,26 +15,24 @@ setup.py
 index.html
 
 Then run:
-make test && make test-is-correct # update version number in tests
+`make test && make test-is-correct` # update version number in tests
 
 ## Test it
 
-make check # Run tests in Python 2 and 3
+`make check` # Run tests in Python 2 and 3
 
 ## Tag version
 
 Once you're sure this is the *real* version, tag it:
 
-git tag VERSION
-git push
+`git tag VERSION`
+`git push`
 
 ## Create tarball
 
 Run:
+`make distribute`
 
-~~~~
-make distribute
-~~~~
 
 ## Post tarball
 
@@ -48,12 +46,8 @@ the usual places:
 
 Create a PyPi distribution package:
 
-~~~~
-make pypi
-~~~~
+`make pypi`
 
 And upload it:
 
-~~~~
-make upload-pypi
-~~~~
+`make upload-pypi`