diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a7f2845..b03fba7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ Every problem has one primary topic. The prefix is the first part of the file
 name; problems that span a few areas pick one primary topic and put the rest in
 their tags.
 
+<!-- TOPICS:START table (generated from topics.txt by `make topics`) -->
 | Prefix | Topic |
 |--------|-------|
-<!-- TOPICS:START table (generated from topics.txt by `make topics`) -->
 | `calc` | Calculus |
 | `linalg` | Linear Algebra |
 | `alg` | Abstract Algebra |
diff --git a/docs/CONVENTIONS.md b/docs/CONVENTIONS.md
index 80a87fe..e441b09 100644
--- a/docs/CONVENTIONS.md
+++ b/docs/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ hook, and CI all read it from there, and the tables in the docs are filled in
 from it by `make topics`. So to add a topic, edit `topics.txt` and run
 `make topics` - don't edit the table below by hand (CI fails if it drifts).
 
+<!-- TOPICS:START table (generated from topics.txt by `make topics`) -->
 | Prefix | Topic |
 |--------|-------|
-<!-- TOPICS:START table (generated from topics.txt by `make topics`) -->
 | `calc` | Calculus |
 | `linalg` | Linear Algebra |
 | `alg` | Abstract Algebra |
diff --git a/scripts/sync-topics.sh b/scripts/sync-topics.sh
index 06a7e78..341ada7 100644
--- a/scripts/sync-topics.sh
+++ b/scripts/sync-topics.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ TARGETS=(
 # Render the three block formats from topics.txt.
 parse() { awk 'NF && $1 !~ /^#/ { name=$0; sub(/^[ \t]*[^ \t]+[ \t]+/, "", name); print $1 "\t" name }' "$TOPICS"; }
 
-table_block=""; dropdown_block=""; prefixes=""
+table_block="| Prefix | Topic |
+|--------|-------|
+"; dropdown_block=""; prefixes=""
 while IFS=$'\t' read -r prefix name; do
   table_block="$table_block| \`$prefix\` | $name |
 "