diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 6ff117db5d2..479ddfd7ba1 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 pip - The Python Package Installer
 ==================================
 
-.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/pip.svg
+.. |pypi-version| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/pip.svg
    :target: https://pypi.org/project/pip/
    :alt: PyPI
 
-.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/pip
+.. |python-versions| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/pip
    :target: https://pypi.org/project/pip
    :alt: PyPI - Python Version
 
-.. image:: https://readthedocs.org/projects/pip/badge/?version=latest
+.. |docs-badge| image:: https://readthedocs.org/projects/pip/badge/?version=latest
    :target: https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest
    :alt: Documentation
 
+|pypi-version| |python-versions| |docs-badge|
+
 pip is the `package installer`_ for Python. You can use pip to install packages from the `Python Package Index`_ and other indexes.
 
 Please take a look at our documentation for how to install and use pip:
diff --git a/news/12615.trivial.rst b/news/12615.trivial.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ace9836ed43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/12615.trivial.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uses RST substitution to put badges in 1 line.