diff --git a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/AutoBuild.java b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/AutoBuild.java
index 3b86ed15f8e5..346d31231df9 100644
--- a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/AutoBuild.java
+++ b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/AutoBuild.java
@@ -1236,7 +1236,7 @@ private void doExtract(FileExtractor extractor, Path file, ExtractorState state)
       if (!extractor.getConfig().isExterns()) seenFiles = true;
       List<ParseError> errors = loc == null ? Collections.emptyList() : loc.getParseErrors();
       for (ParseError err : errors) {
-        String msg = "A parse error occurred: " + StringUtil.escapeMarkdown(err.getMessage())
+        String msg = "A parse error occurred: " + StringUtil.quoteWithBackticks(err.getMessage().trim())
             + ". Check the syntax of the file. If the file is invalid, correct the error or [exclude](https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/customizing-code-scanning) the file from analysis.";
         // file, relative to the source root
         String relativeFilePath = null;
diff --git a/javascript/ql/integration-tests/all-platforms/diagnostics/syntax-error/diagnostics.expected b/javascript/ql/integration-tests/all-platforms/diagnostics/syntax-error/diagnostics.expected
index 0c4405ea92b0..c1ee74852189 100644
--- a/javascript/ql/integration-tests/all-platforms/diagnostics/syntax-error/diagnostics.expected
+++ b/javascript/ql/integration-tests/all-platforms/diagnostics/syntax-error/diagnostics.expected
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     "startColumn": 4,
     "startLine": 1
   },
-  "markdownMessage": "A parse error occurred: Unexpected token. Check the syntax of the file. If the file is invalid, correct the error or [exclude](https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/customizing-code-scanning) the file from analysis.",
+  "markdownMessage": "A parse error occurred: `Unexpected token`. Check the syntax of the file. If the file is invalid, correct the error or [exclude](https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/customizing-code-scanning) the file from analysis.",
   "severity": "warning",
   "source": {
     "extractorName": "javascript",