diff --git a/sphinx/builders/_epub_base.py b/sphinx/builders/_epub_base.py
index 1bfbad514..92f2ba938 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/_epub_base.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/_epub_base.py
@@ -330,8 +330,7 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
                 fn = fns[-1]
                 return fn.parent, fn.parent.index(fn) + 1
             for node in tree.traverse(nodes.rubric):
-                if len(node.children) == 1 and \
-                        node.children[0].astext() == FOOTNOTES_RUBRIC_NAME:
+                if len(node) == 1 and node.astext() == FOOTNOTES_RUBRIC_NAME:
                     return node.parent, node.parent.index(node) + 1
             doc = tree.traverse(nodes.document)[0]
             rub = nodes.rubric()
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/latex.py b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
index f0ce485d7..ea293ef5c 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/latex.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
@@ -1230,8 +1230,7 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(SphinxTranslator):
 
     def visit_rubric(self, node):
         # type: (nodes.rubric) -> None
-        if len(node.children) == 1 and node.children[0].astext() in \
-           ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
+        if len(node) == 1 and node.astext() in ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
             raise nodes.SkipNode
         self.body.append('\\subsubsection*{')
         self.context.append('}\n')
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/manpage.py b/sphinx/writers/manpage.py
index 179c8ef9f..ececac185 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/manpage.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/manpage.py
@@ -268,12 +268,9 @@ class ManualPageTranslator(SphinxTranslator, BaseTranslator):
     def visit_rubric(self, node):
         # type: (nodes.rubric) -> None
         self.ensure_eol()
-        if len(node.children) == 1:
-            rubtitle = node.children[0].astext()
-            if rubtitle in ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
-                self.body.append('.SH ' + self.deunicode(rubtitle).upper() +
-                                 '\n')
-                raise nodes.SkipNode
+        if len(node) == 1 and node.astext() in ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
+            self.body.append('.SH ' + self.deunicode(node.astext()).upper() + '\n')
+            raise nodes.SkipNode
         else:
             self.body.append('.sp\n')
 
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/texinfo.py b/sphinx/writers/texinfo.py
index c15050574..877380d38 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/texinfo.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/texinfo.py
@@ -669,8 +669,7 @@ class TexinfoTranslator(SphinxTranslator):
 
     def visit_rubric(self, node):
         # type: (nodes.rubric) -> None
-        if len(node.children) == 1 and node.children[0].astext() in \
-                ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
+        if len(node) == 1 and node.astext() in ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
             raise nodes.SkipNode
         try:
             rubric = self.rubrics[self.section_level]
diff --git a/tests/test_build_latex.py b/tests/test_build_latex.py
index fdf59b9a5..c1506e4db 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_latex.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_latex.py
@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ def test_writer(app, status, warning):
             '\\label{\\detokenize{markup:id11}}'
             '\\end{wrapfigure}' in result)
 
+    assert 'Footnotes' not in result
+
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('latex', testroot='warnings', freshenv=True)
 def test_latex_warnings(app, status, warning):
diff --git a/tests/test_build_manpage.py b/tests/test_build_manpage.py
index 405f10832..8a3777a30 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_manpage.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_manpage.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ def test_all(app, status, warning):
     assert '\n.B term1\n' in content
     assert '\nterm2 (\\fBstronged partially\\fP)\n' in content
 
+    assert 'Footnotes' not in content
+
 
 def test_default_man_pages():
     config = Config({'master_doc': 'index',
diff --git a/tests/test_build_texinfo.py b/tests/test_build_texinfo.py
index 4230d36ac..63b9a69ba 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_texinfo.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_texinfo.py
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ def test_texinfo(app, status, warning):
     assert ('@anchor{markup doc}@anchor{11}'
             '@anchor{markup id1}@anchor{12}'
             '@anchor{markup testing-various-markup}@anchor{13}' in result)
+    assert 'Footnotes' not in result
     # now, try to run makeinfo over it
     cwd = os.getcwd()
     os.chdir(app.outdir)