diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index beea689809..a297336252 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -21,24 +21,25 @@ Note: We're only listing outstanding class updates.
 
 ## Stdlib updates
 
-*   The following default gems are updated.
+The following default gems are updated.
 
-    * RubyGems 3.5.0.dev
-    * abbrev 0.1.1
-    * bundler 2.5.0.dev
-    * csv 3.2.7
-    * fiddle 1.1.2
-    * optparse 0.4.0.pre.1
-    * stringio 3.0.5
-    * strscan 3.0.6
+* RubyGems 3.5.0.dev
+* abbrev 0.1.1
+* bundler 2.5.0.dev
+* csv 3.2.7
+* fiddle 1.1.2
+* optparse 0.4.0.pre.1
+* stringio 3.0.5
+* strscan 3.0.6
 
-*   The following bundled gems are updated.
+The following bundled gems are updated.
 
-    * minitest 5.17.0
-    * rbs 2.8.3
-    * typeprof 0.21.4
+* minitest 5.17.0
+* rbs 2.8.3
+* typeprof 0.21.4
 
-See GitHub releases like [GitHub Releases of Logger](https://github.com/ruby/logger/releases) or changelog for details of the default gems or bundled gems.
+See GitHub releases like [Logger](https://github.com/ruby/logger/releases) or
+changelog for details of the default gems or bundled gems.
 
 ## Supported platforms
 
diff --git a/tool/update-NEWS-gemlist.rb b/tool/update-NEWS-gemlist.rb
index ef2cc4fe36..42c263433d 100755
--- a/tool/update-NEWS-gemlist.rb
+++ b/tool/update-NEWS-gemlist.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ prev = news[/since the \*+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)\*+/, 1]
 prevs = [prev, prev.sub(/\.\d+\z/, '')]
 
 update = ->(list, type, desc = "updated") do
-  news.sub!(/^\*( +)The following #{type} gems? (?:are|is) #{desc}\.\n(\n*)\K(?: \1\*( +).*\n)*\n*/) do
+  news.sub!(/^(?:\*( +))?The following #{type} gems? (?:are|is) #{desc}\.\n(\n*)\K(?:(?(1) \1)\*( +).*\n)*\n*/) do
     mark = "#{$1&.<< " "}*#{$3 || ' '}"
     list.map {|g, v|"#{mark}#{g} #{v}\n"}.join("") + $2
   end