diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index c82745c93..479b29e30 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ rst_prolog = '''
 .. role:: italic
 
 '''.replace('VERSION', str_version)
+smartquotes_action = 'qe'  # educate quotes and ellipses but not dashes
 
 
 # -- Options for HTML output -------------------------------------------------