diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/outline.el b/lisp/textmodes/outline.el
index e34ab7e154d..a03c524aeed 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/outline.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/outline.el
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ Turning on outline mode calls the value of `text-mode-hook' and then of
   (set (make-local-variable 'paragraph-separate)
        (concat paragraph-separate "\\|\\(" outline-regexp "\\)"))
   (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-defaults)
-       '(outline-font-lock-keywords t))
+       '(outline-font-lock-keywords t nil nil 'backward-paragraph))
   (setq imenu-generic-expression
 	(list (list nil (concat outline-regexp ".*$") 0)))
   (add-hook 'change-major-mode-hook 'show-all nil t))