diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/emacs-news-mode.el b/lisp/textmodes/emacs-news-mode.el
index 48e9244a4ef..6321bd8efad 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/emacs-news-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/emacs-news-mode.el
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
 (define-derived-mode emacs-news-mode text-mode "NEWS"
   "Major mode for editing the Emacs NEWS file."
   ;; Disable buttons.
-  (button-mode nil)
+  (button-mode -1)
   ;; And make the buffer writable.  This is used when toggling
   ;; emacs-news-mode.
   (setq buffer-read-only nil)