diff --git a/gnu/packages/docbook.scm b/gnu/packages/docbook.scm
index b3e53557e8..d4441bacee 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/docbook.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/docbook.scm
@@ -780,45 +780,40 @@ (define-public docbook-utils
                                   version ".orig.tar.gz"))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "1scj5vgw1xz872pq54a89blcxqqm11p90yzv8a9mqq57x27apyj8"))))
+                "1scj5vgw1xz872pq54a89blcxqqm11p90yzv8a9mqq57x27apyj8"))
+              (modules '((guix build utils)))
+              (snippet
+               #~(begin
+                   ;; Patch build system.
+                   (substitute* (find-files "." "\\.in$")
+                     ;; Do not hard-code SGML_CATALOG_FILES.
+                     ((".*SGML_CATALOG_FILES=/etc/sgml/catalog.*") "")
+                     ;; Use OpenSP and OpenJade.
+                     (("\\bjade\\b")
+                      "openjade")
+                     (("\\bnsgmls\\b")
+                      "onsgmls"))
+
+                   ;; Do not override the SGML_CATALOG_FILES environment
+                   ;; variable.
+                   (substitute* "bin/jw.in"
+                     ((".*SGML_CATALOG_FILES=`find.*")
+                      "")
+                     (("SGML_CATALOG_FILES=`echo.*")
+                      ":\n")
+                     (("SGML_CATALOG_FILES=\"\"")
+                      ":")
+                     (("\\bwhich\\b")
+                      "command -v"))
+
+                   ;; Locate lynx, links or w3m from the PATH, not from
+                   ;; /usr/bin.
+                   (substitute* "backends/txt"
+                     (("CONVERT=/usr/bin/")
+                      "CONVERT=")
+                     (("\\[ -x /usr/bin/([^ ]+) \\]" _ command)
+                      (format #f "command -v ~a > /dev/null" command)))))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
-    (arguments
-     `(#:phases (modify-phases %standard-phases
-                  (add-after 'unpack 'patch-build-system
-                    (lambda _
-                      (substitute* (find-files "." "\\.in$")
-                        ;; Do not hard-code SGML_CATALOG_FILES.
-                        ((".*SGML_CATALOG_FILES=/etc/sgml/catalog.*") "")
-                        ;; Use OpenSP and OpenJade.
-                        (("\\bjade\\b")
-                         "openjade")
-                        (("\\bnsgmls\\b")
-                         "onsgmls"))
-                      #t))
-                  (add-after 'unpack 'patch-jw.in
-                    ;; Do not override the SGML_CATALOG_FILES environment
-                    ;; variable.
-                    (lambda _
-                      (substitute* "bin/jw.in"
-                        ((".*SGML_CATALOG_FILES=`find.*")
-                         "")
-                        (("SGML_CATALOG_FILES=`echo.*")
-                         ":\n")
-                        (("SGML_CATALOG_FILES=\"\"")
-                         ":")
-                        (("\\bwhich\\b")
-                         "command -v"))
-                      #t))
-                  (add-after 'unpack 'patch-txt-backend
-                    (lambda _
-                      ;; Locate lynx, links or w3m from the PATH, not from
-                      ;; /usr/bin.
-                      (substitute* "backends/txt"
-                        (("CONVERT=/usr/bin/")
-                         "CONVERT=")
-                        (("\\[ -x /usr/bin/([^ ]+) \\]" dummy command)
-                         (string-append "command -v " command " > /dev/null")))
-                      #t)))))
     ;; Propagated for convenience.  All these tools are used at run time to
     ;; provide the complete functionality of the docbook-utils commands.
     (propagated-inputs
@@ -839,15 +834,22 @@ (define-public docbook-utils
 Language (HTML), Rich Text Format (RTF), PostScript (PS), man, Portable
 Document Format (PDF), TeX, Texinfo or plain text (txt).  It can be used
 more conveniently via the following wrappers:
-@itemx docbook2dvi Convert a SGML DocBook file to the DVI format.
-@itemx docbook2html Convert a SGML DocBook file to an HTML document.
-@itemx docbook2man Convert a SGML DocBook file a man page.
-@itemx docbook2pdf Convert a SGML DocBook file to a PDF document.
-@itemx docbook2ps Convert a SGML DocBook file to a PS document.
-@itemx docbook2rtf Convert a SGML DocBook file to a RTF document.
-@itemx docbook2tex Convert a SGML DocBook file to a TeX document.
-@itemx docbook2texi Convert a SGML DocBook file to a Texinfo document.
-@itemx docbook2txt Convert a SGML DocBook file to a plain text document.
+@table @command
+@item docbook2dvi
+Convert a SGML DocBook file to the DVI format.
+@item docbook2html
+Convert a SGML DocBook file to an HTML document.
+@item docbook2man
+Convert a SGML DocBook file a man page.
+@item docbook2pdf
+@itemx docbook2ps
+@itemx docbook2rtf
+@itemx docbook2tex
+@itemx docbook2texi
+Convert a SGML DocBook file to a PDF/PS/RTF/TeX document.
+@item docbook2txt
+Convert a SGML DocBook file to a plain text document.
+@end table
 @item sgmldiff
 Detect the differences in markup between two SGML files.
 @end table")
