diff --git a/assign1/README.md b/assign1/README.md
index 4f2c402a7370854812386805006a9ce2f65d4d9f..2e5ba85f6bd1e685753ea26d7ecbd22ef73a0bbb 100644
--- a/assign1/README.md
+++ b/assign1/README.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ repository from `gitlab.cs.umd.edu` as follows:
 ```
     git clone git@gitlab.cs.umd.edu:cmsc436Fall2021/cmsc436-<dirid>
 ```
-with your directoryID substituted for "<dirid>" above. This is the ssh
+with your directoryID substituted for "\<dirid\>" above. This is the ssh
 version of git clone, which assumes you've uploaded an ssh key for
 your machine. Otherwise you can use:
 ```