diff --git a/lib/spack/docs/packaging_guide.rst b/lib/spack/docs/packaging_guide.rst
index 0f549e2957e..861a35c1544 100644
--- a/lib/spack/docs/packaging_guide.rst
+++ b/lib/spack/docs/packaging_guide.rst
@@ -2602,14 +2602,14 @@ Spack packages with variants similar to already-existing Spack
 packages should use the same name for their variants.  Standard
 variant names are:
 
-======= ======== ========================
-Name    Default   Description
-------- -------- ------------------------
-shared   True     Build shared libraries
-static            Build static libraries
-mpi               Use MPI
-python            Build Python extension
-------- -------- ------------------------
+  ======= ======== ========================
+  Name    Default   Description
+  ======= ======== ========================
+  shared   True     Build shared libraries
+  static   None     Build static libraries
+  mpi      None     Use MPI
+  python   None     Build Python extension
+  ======= ======== ========================
 
 If specified in this table, the corresponding default should be used
 when declaring a variant.