diff --git a/pandas/io/excel/_base.py b/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
index ebcafce8f4de2..1dc6c1f08b49a 100644
--- a/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
+++ b/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
     )
 _read_excel_doc = (
     """
-Read an Excel file into a ``pandas`` ``DataFrame``.
+Read an Excel file into a ``DataFrame``.
 
 Supports `xls`, `xlsx`, `xlsm`, `xlsb`, `odf`, `ods` and `odt` file extensions
 read from a local filesystem or URL. Supports an option to read