diff --git a/icu4c/source/extra/uconv/uconv.1.in b/icu4c/source/extra/uconv/uconv.1.in
index 02ddfa196d8..2fa884f6254 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/extra/uconv/uconv.1.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/extra/uconv/uconv.1.in
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ in which case transliteration will happen as an intermediate step,
 after the data have been transcoded to Unicode.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-V\fP, \fB\-\-version
+.BR "\-V\fP, \fB\-\-version"
 Print the version of
 .B uconv
 and exit.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/genccode/genccode.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/genccode/genccode.8.in
index b20d1037396..6632628d507 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/genccode/genccode.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/genccode/genccode.8.in
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ is called with no
 it terminates gracefully.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
 .BI "\-d\fP, \fB\-\-destdir" " destination"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/decmn.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/decmn.8.in
index 5f17876406c..ea5dddd13c6 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/decmn.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/decmn.8.in
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ been generated, to produce a new common data file using
 .\" which transforms it into a simple list of filenames.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
 .B \-n
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/gencmn.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/gencmn.8.in
index 8fcd914bfcf..725568384df 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/gencmn.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gencmn/gencmn.8.in
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ bytes. Files that exceed this limit are quietly ignored, even in
 verbose mode.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
 .BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gencnval/gencnval.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gencnval/gencnval.8.in
index eb0278713c3..9bd4dc84c70 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gencnval/gencnval.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gencnval/gencnval.8.in
@@ -44,10 +44,10 @@ is not provided, the default ICU
 file is used.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright
+.BR "\-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright"
 Include a copyright notice in the binary data.
 .TP
 .BI "\-s\fP, \fB\-\-sourcedir" " source"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gennames/gennames.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gennames/gennames.8.in
index 60f8a6036ba..e466beadcf0 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gennames/gennames.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gennames/gennames.8.in
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ Optionally, Unicode 1.0 names can be chosen over Unicode 2.0 names for
 those code points whose names were changed for Unicode 2.0.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
-.BR \-q\fP, \fB\-\-quiet
+.BR "\-q\fP, \fB\-\-quiet"
 Do not display any message during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-d\fP, \fB\-\-destdir" " destination"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gennorm/gennorm.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gennorm/gennorm.8.in
index c52d673d6eb..9228407f466 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gennorm/gennorm.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gennorm/gennorm.8.in
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ would be looked for under the name
 .BR UnicodeData\-\fIsuffix\fP.txt .
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-u\fP, \fB\-\-unicode" " version"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/genprops/genprops.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/genprops/genprops.8.in
index 8fa8c26c44c..003bc00f41a 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/genprops/genprops.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/genprops/genprops.8.in
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ would be looked for under the name
 .BR UnicodeData\-\fIsuffix\fP.txt .
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-u\fP, \fB\-\-unicode" " version"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/genrb.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/genrb.8.in
index eb8dd22d448..0ce9d190435 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/genrb.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/genrb.8.in
@@ -55,15 +55,15 @@ These binary files can then be read directly by ICU, or used by
 for incorporation into a larger archive or library.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-V\fP, \fB\-\-version
+.BR "\-V\fP, \fB\-\-version"
 Print the version of
 .B genrb
 and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-e\fP, \fB\-\-encoding" " encoding"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/gentz/gentz.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/gentz/gentz.8.in
index 7fce2aab3c7..84807954c8d 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/gentz/gentz.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/gentz/gentz.8.in
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ is described in the
 section.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
 .BI "\-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/genuca/genuca.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/genuca/genuca.8.in
index a2c1cfebf32..a3b536c233d 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/genuca/genuca.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/genuca/genuca.8.in
@@ -48,15 +48,15 @@ These binary files can then be read directly by ICU, or used by
 for incorporation into a larger archive or library.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-V\fP, \fB\-\-version
+.BR "\-V\fP, \fB\-\-version"
 Print the version of
 .B genuca
 and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/makeconv/makeconv.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/makeconv/makeconv.8.in
index c2393898338..bfdd58f02f6 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/makeconv/makeconv.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/makeconv/makeconv.8.in
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@ They do need to be listed there if one wants to give them aliases, or
 tags, though.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright
+.BR "\-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright"
 Include a copyright notice in the binary data.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
 .BI "\-d\fP, \fB\-\-destdir" " destination"
diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.8.in b/icu4c/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.8.in
index 15eaa039cc8..769c2ad8d23 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.8.in
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.8.in
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ the ICU source distribution for further information on the use of this
 mode.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.BR \-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help
+.BR "\-h\fP, \fB\-?\fP, \fB\-\-help"
 Print help about usage and exit.
 .TP
-.BR \-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose
+.BR "\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose"
 Display extra informative messages during execution.
 .TP
-.BR \-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright
+.BR "\-c\fP, \fB\-\-copyright"
 Include a copyright notice in the binary data.
 .TP
 .BI "\-C\fP, \fB\-\-comment" " comment"