diff --git a/lisp/help-mode.el b/lisp/help-mode.el
index b6757fcdbf1..7bb69a9389f 100644
--- a/lisp/help-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/help-mode.el
@@ -518,9 +518,9 @@ restore it properly when going back."
               outline-minor-mode-highlight
               outline-minor-mode-use-buttons
               outline-default-state
-              outline-default-rules
-              xref-backend-functions
-              semantic-symref-filepattern-alist)))
+              outline-default-rules)))
+    (kill-local-variable 'xref-backend-functions)
+    (kill-local-variable 'semantic-symref-filepattern-alist)
     (when help-xref-stack-item
       (push (cons (point) help-xref-stack-item) help-xref-stack)
       (setq help-xref-forward-stack nil))