diff --git a/skimage/_shared/utils.py b/skimage/_shared/utils.py
index fc13c7e6..acdf9c16 100644
--- a/skimage/_shared/utils.py
+++ b/skimage/_shared/utils.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class deprecated(object):
             return func(*args, **kwargs)
 
         # modify doc string to display deprecation warning
-        doc = 'Deprecated function.' + alt_msg
+        doc = '**Deprecated function**.' + alt_msg
         if wrapped.__doc__ is None:
             wrapped.__doc__ = doc
         else: