Maybe I'm judging a bit too fast, but it seems to me that this part of the code
is rusty to the point that I wonder if getting down to understanding the hows
and the whys will ever reveal useful or enlightening at all.  It's rather safe
to bet that nothing will ever depend on man-db's rendering ;)

I feel that it's just easier to apply one of the 3-4 fixes we've already come up
with :p

My two cents :)

-- 
Pierre Neidhardt
https://ambrevar.xyz/