diff --git a/.github/workflows/cloudflare-preview.yml b/.github/workflows/cloudflare-preview.yml
index f3917cc05c..c13476a259 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cloudflare-preview.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cloudflare-preview.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout PR Code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           repository: ${{ github.event.client_payload.pr_checkout_repository }}
           ref: ${{ github.event.client_payload.pr_head_sha }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fork-preview-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/fork-preview-deploy.yml
index 995f63abbd..a6a58b17ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fork-preview-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fork-preview-deploy.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
       github.event.workflow_run.event == 'pull_request'
     steps:
       - name: Download PR information
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v5
         with:
           name: pr
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yml b/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yml
index d5d467cd46..3aed342352 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ github.repository == 'ruby/rdoc' && !startsWith(github.event_name, 'pull') }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
       - name: Setup Ruby
         uses: ruby/setup-ruby@eaecf785f6a34567a6d97f686bbb7bccc1ac1e5c # v1.237.0
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 27ea686ca1..3a744e26f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4 # v3.3.0
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v5 # v3.3.0
     # libyaml-dev is needed for psych, see https://github.com/ruby/setup-ruby/issues/409
     - if: ${{ matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' }}
       run: sudo apt install libyaml-dev
diff --git a/.github/workflows/push_gem.yml b/.github/workflows/push_gem.yml
index 73d5173320..50fed5315b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/push_gem.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/push_gem.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           egress-policy: audit
 
-      - uses: actions/checkout@0ad4b8fadaa221de15dcec353f45205ec38ea70b # v4.1.4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
 
       - name: Set up Ruby
         uses: ruby/setup-ruby@eaecf785f6a34567a6d97f686bbb7bccc1ac1e5c # v1.237.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ruby-core.yml b/.github/workflows/ruby-core.yml
index f243aa14ca..d0f2754111 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ruby-core.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ruby-core.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
           bundler: none
       - name: Save latest buildable revision to environment
         run: echo "REF=$(ruby -v | cut -d')' -f1 | cut -d' ' -f5)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-      - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v3.1.0
+      - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v3.1.0
         with:
           repository: ruby/ruby
           path: ruby/ruby
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
           autoconf
           ./configure -C --disable-install-doc
         working-directory: ruby/ruby
-      - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v3.1.0
+      - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v3.1.0
         with:
           path: ruby/rdoc
       - name: Build RDoc locally
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index ce0b9aedef..ab26d8030b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
 
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4 # v3.3.0
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v5 # v3.3.0
     # libyaml-dev is needed for psych, see https://github.com/ruby/setup-ruby/issues/409
     - if: ${{ matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' }}
       run: sudo apt install libyaml-dev
diff --git a/lib/rdoc/markdown.kpeg b/lib/rdoc/markdown.kpeg
index 174206ea74..46c8f07f41 100644
--- a/lib/rdoc/markdown.kpeg
+++ b/lib/rdoc/markdown.kpeg
@@ -497,6 +497,17 @@
     end
   end
 
+  ##
+  # Wraps `text` in code markup for rdoc inline formatting
+
+  def code text
+    # trim even spaces
+    text = $2 while /\A( +|\t+)(.*)\1\z/ =~ text
+    # escape unescaped backslash at the end
+    backslash_at_end = "\\" if /(?<!\\)(?:\\\\)*\\\z/.match?(text)
+    "<code>#{text}#{backslash_at_end}</code>"
+  end
+
   ##
   # Parses inline markdown in table cells
 
@@ -1104,32 +1115,32 @@ Ticks3 = "```" !"`"
 Ticks4 = "````" !"`"
 Ticks5 = "`````" !"`"
 
-Code = ( Ticks1 @Sp < (
+Code = ( Ticks1 < (
            ( !"`" Nonspacechar )+ | !Ticks1 /`+/ |
-           !( @Sp Ticks1 ) ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
-         )+ > @Sp Ticks1 |
-         Ticks2 @Sp < (
+           !Ticks1 ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
+         )+ > Ticks1 |
+         Ticks2 < (
            ( !"`" Nonspacechar )+ |
            !Ticks2 /`+/ |
-           !( @Sp Ticks2 ) ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
-         )+ > @Sp Ticks2 |
-         Ticks3 @Sp < (
+           !Ticks2 ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
+         )+ > Ticks2 |
+         Ticks3 < (
            ( !"`" Nonspacechar )+ |
            !Ticks3 /`+/ |
-           !( @Sp Ticks3 ) ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
-         )+ > @Sp Ticks3 |
-         Ticks4 @Sp < (
+           !Ticks3 ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
+         )+ > Ticks3 |
+         Ticks4 < (
            ( !"`" Nonspacechar )+ |
            !Ticks4 /`+/ |
-           !( @Sp Ticks4 ) ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
-         )+ > @Sp Ticks4 |
-         Ticks5 @Sp < (
+           !Ticks4 ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
+         )+ > Ticks4 |
+         Ticks5 < (
            ( !"`" Nonspacechar )+ |
            !Ticks5 /`+/ |
-           !( @Sp Ticks5 ) ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
-         )+ > @Sp Ticks5
+           !Ticks5 ( @Spacechar | @Newline !@BlankLine )
+         )+ > Ticks5
        )
-       { "<code>#{text}</code>" }
+       { code text }
 
 RawHtml = < (HtmlComment | HtmlBlockScript | HtmlTag) >
           { if html? then text else '' end }
diff --git a/test/rdoc/rdoc_generator_darkfish_test.rb b/test/rdoc/rdoc_generator_darkfish_test.rb
index 67715951ec..52ae0601d3 100644
--- a/test/rdoc/rdoc_generator_darkfish_test.rb
+++ b/test/rdoc/rdoc_generator_darkfish_test.rb
@@ -469,7 +469,8 @@ def test_meta_tags_for_markdown_files_paragraph
     top_level.comment = <<~MARKDOWN
       # Distributed Ruby: dRuby
 
-      dRuby is a distributed object system for Ruby.  It allows an object.
+      dRuby is a distributed object system for Ruby.  It allows an object in one
+      Ruby process to invoke methods on an object in another Ruby process.
     MARKDOWN
 
     @g.generate
@@ -480,7 +481,7 @@ def test_meta_tags_for_markdown_files_paragraph
       "<meta name=\"description\" content=\"" \
       "README: dRuby " \
       "dRuby is a distributed object system for Ruby. " \
-      "It allows an object."
+      "It allows an object in one Ruby process to invoke methods on an object"
     )
   end
 
diff --git a/test/rdoc/rdoc_markdown_test.rb b/test/rdoc/rdoc_markdown_test.rb
index d33eec47f3..19eeb1c9ef 100644
--- a/test/rdoc/rdoc_markdown_test.rb
+++ b/test/rdoc/rdoc_markdown_test.rb
@@ -139,25 +139,101 @@ def test_parse_code
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
 
+    doc = parse "Code: ` text`"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: `text `"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
     doc = parse "Code: ` text `"
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
 
+    doc = parse "Code: ` text\t`"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text\t</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: `\ttext `"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\ttext </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
     doc = parse "Code: ``text`s``"
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
 
+    doc = parse "Code: `` text`s``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ``text`s ``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
     doc = parse "Code: `` text`s ``"
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
 
+    doc = parse "Code: `` text`s\t``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text`s\t</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ``\ttext`s ``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\ttext`s </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
     doc = parse "Code: ```text`s```"
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
 
+    doc = parse "Code: ``` text`s```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ```text`s ```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
     doc = parse "Code: ``` text`s ```"
     expected = doc(para("Code: <code>text`s</code>"))
     assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ``` text`s\t```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code> text`s\t</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ```\ttext`s ```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\ttext`s </code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: `\\`"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\\\</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ` \\ `"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\\\</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: `\\`s`"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\\\</code>s`"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ``\\`s``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: `` \\`s ``"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ```\\`s```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
+
+    doc = parse "Code: ``` \\`s ```"
+    expected = doc(para("Code: <code>\\`s</code>"))
+    assert_equal expected, doc
   end
 
   def test_parse_code_github
@@ -195,7 +271,7 @@ def test_parse_code_github_format
     doc = <<-MD
 Example:
 
-``` ruby
+```ruby
 code goes here
 ```
     MD
@@ -1173,14 +1249,14 @@ def test_gfm_table_with_backslashes_in_code_spans
 
     body = [
       ['Plain', '<code>$\\\\</code>', 'Should show backslash'],
-      ['Escaped', '<code>$\\\\</code>', 'Should show backslash'],
+      ['Escaped', '<code>$\\\\ </code>', 'Should show backslash'],
       ['Multiple', '<code>\\\\n\\\\t</code>', 'Should show backslashes'],
     ]
 
     expected_table = @RM::Table.new(head, align, body)
 
     expected = doc(
-      para('Plain text: <code>$\\\\</code> and <code>$\\\\</code> should work.'),
+      para('Plain text: <code>$\\\\</code> and <code>$\\\\ </code> should work.'),
       expected_table
     )