diff --git a/scripts/kernel-doc b/scripts/kernel-doc
index 0ecd71477a16..d6d2b6e0b4eb 100755
--- a/scripts/kernel-doc
+++ b/scripts/kernel-doc
@@ -391,8 +391,14 @@ my $doc_com = '\s*\*\s*';
 my $doc_com_body = '\s*\* ?';
 my $doc_decl = $doc_com . '(\w+)';
 # @params and a strictly limited set of supported section names
+# Specifically:
+#   Match @word:
+#	  @...:
+#         @{section-name}:
+# while trying to not match literal block starts like "example::"
+#
 my $doc_sect = $doc_com .
-    '\s*(\@[.\w]+|\@\.\.\.|description|context|returns?|notes?|examples?)\s*:([^:]*)$';
+    '\s*(\@[.\w]+|\@\.\.\.|description|context|returns?|notes?|examples?)\s*:([^:].*)?$';
 my $doc_content = $doc_com_body . '(.*)';
 my $doc_block = $doc_com . 'DOC:\s*(.*)?';
 my $doc_inline_start = '^\s*/\*\*\s*$';