diff --git a/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/JavaGenerator.java b/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/JavaGenerator.java
index b2e69512fb..92196e2443 100644
--- a/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/JavaGenerator.java
+++ b/jOOQ-codegen/src/main/java/org/jooq/codegen/JavaGenerator.java
@@ -4918,7 +4918,7 @@ public class JavaGenerator extends AbstractGenerator {
         if (generateDeprecationOnUnknownTypes() && "java.lang.Object".equals(type)) {
             out.tab(indentation).javadoc("@deprecated Unknown data type. "
                 + "Please define an explicit {@link org.jooq.Binding} to specify how this "
-                + "type should be handled. Deprecation can be turned off using <deprecationOnUnknownTypes/> "
+                + "type should be handled. Deprecation can be turned off using {@literal <deprecationOnUnknownTypes/>} "
                 + "in your code generator configuration.");
             out.tab(indentation).println("@java.lang.Deprecated");
             return true;