diff --git a/Doc/reference/expressions.rst b/Doc/reference/expressions.rst
index ba0f8d87ba9eec..f669d9718a4960 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/expressions.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/expressions.rst
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ An identifier occurring as an atom is a name.  See section :ref:`identifiers`
 for lexical definition and section :ref:`naming` for documentation of naming and
 binding.
 
-.. index:: exception: NameError
+.. index:: pair: exception; NameError
 
 When the name is bound to an object, evaluation of the atom yields that object.
 When a name is not bound, an attempt to evaluate it raises a :exc:`NameError`
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ be used to control the execution of a generator function.
 Note that calling any of the generator methods below when the generator
 is already executing raises a :exc:`ValueError` exception.
 
-.. index:: exception: StopIteration
+.. index:: pair: exception; StopIteration
 
 
 .. method:: generator.__next__()
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ is already executing raises a :exc:`ValueError` exception.
    :attr:`~BaseException.__traceback__` attribute stored in *value* may
    be cleared.
 
-.. index:: exception: GeneratorExit
+.. index:: pair: exception; GeneratorExit
 
 
 .. method:: generator.close()
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ This subsection describes the methods of an asynchronous generator iterator,
 which are used to control the execution of a generator function.
 
 
-.. index:: exception: StopAsyncIteration
+.. index:: pair: exception; StopAsyncIteration
 
 .. coroutinemethod:: agen.__anext__()
 
@@ -752,7 +752,7 @@ which are used to control the execution of a generator function.
    raises a different exception, then when the awaitable is run that exception
    propagates to the caller of the awaitable.
 
-.. index:: exception: GeneratorExit
+.. index:: pair: exception; GeneratorExit
 
 
 .. coroutinemethod:: agen.aclose()
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ An attribute reference is a primary followed by a period and a name:
    attributeref: `primary` "." `identifier`
 
 .. index::
-   exception: AttributeError
+   pair: exception; AttributeError
    pair: object; module
    pair: object; list
 
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@ applies to integral numbers or to custom objects that override the
 
 
 
-.. index:: exception: TypeError
+.. index:: pair: exception; TypeError
 
 In all three cases, if the argument does not have the proper type, a
 :exc:`TypeError` exception is raised.
@@ -1277,7 +1277,7 @@ builtin Python types implement this operator.
 .. versionadded:: 3.5
 
 .. index::
-   exception: ZeroDivisionError
+   pair: exception; ZeroDivisionError
    single: division
    pair: operator; / (slash)
    pair: operator; //
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ the left or right by the number of bits given by the second argument.
 This operation can be customized using the special :meth:`__lshift__` and
 :meth:`__rshift__` methods.
 
-.. index:: exception: ValueError
+.. index:: pair: exception; ValueError
 
 A right shift by *n* bits is defined as floor division by ``pow(2,n)``.  A left
 shift by *n* bits is defined as multiplication with ``pow(2,n)``.
diff --git a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
index acc3998e09be22..7cf096019631da 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ The extended form, ``assert expression1, expression2``, is equivalent to ::
 
 .. index::
    single: __debug__
-   exception: AssertionError
+   pair: exception; AssertionError
 
 These equivalences assume that :const:`__debug__` and :exc:`AssertionError` refer to
 the built-in variables with those names.  In the current implementation, the
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ The :keyword:`!yield` statement
    single: generator; function
    single: generator; iterator
    single: function; generator
-   exception: StopIteration
+   pair: exception; StopIteration
 
 .. productionlist:: python-grammar
    yield_stmt: `yield_expression`
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ The :keyword:`!import` statement
    pair: name; binding
    pair: keyword; from
    pair: keyword; as
-   exception: ImportError
+   pair: exception; ImportError
    single: , (comma); import statement
 
 .. productionlist:: python-grammar
diff --git a/Doc/tools/extensions/pyspecific.py b/Doc/tools/extensions/pyspecific.py
index 01c1c5cd77849b..469b43254090ef 100644
--- a/Doc/tools/extensions/pyspecific.py
+++ b/Doc/tools/extensions/pyspecific.py
@@ -698,7 +698,7 @@ def patch_pairindextypes(app) -> None:
         pairindextypes.pop('keyword', None)
         pairindextypes.pop('operator', None)
         pairindextypes.pop('object', None)
-        # pairindextypes.pop('exception', None)
+        pairindextypes.pop('exception', None)
         # pairindextypes.pop('statement', None)
         # pairindextypes.pop('builtin', None)