diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index baff2755c..1d91c6b8d 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ Release 1.1.3 (in development)
 * #851: Recognize and warn about circular toctrees, instead of running
   into recursion errors.
 
+* #853: Restore compatibility with docutils trunk.
+
 
 Release 1.1.2 (Nov 1, 2011) -- 1.1.1 is a silly version number anyway!
 ======================================================================
diff --git a/sphinx/util/nodes.py b/sphinx/util/nodes.py
index c2b7edf4d..dbedb7f2f 100644
--- a/sphinx/util/nodes.py
+++ b/sphinx/util/nodes.py
@@ -179,8 +179,12 @@ def set_source_info(directive, node):
         directive.state_machine.get_source_and_line(directive.lineno)
 
 def set_role_source_info(inliner, lineno, node):
+    try:
         node.source, node.line = \
             inliner.reporter.locator(lineno)
+    except AttributeError:
+        # docutils 0.9+
+        node.source, node.line = inliner.reporter.get_source_and_line(lineno)
 
 # monkey-patch Node.__contains__ to get consistent "in" operator behavior
 # across docutils versions
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/html.py b/sphinx/writers/html.py
index 1830519c6..b6e305f7a 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/html.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/html.py
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ class HTMLTranslator(BaseTranslator):
             self.permalink_text = self.permalink_text and u'\u00B6' or ''
         self.permalink_text = self.encode(self.permalink_text)
         self.secnumber_suffix = builder.config.html_secnumber_suffix
+        self.param_separator = ''
+        self._table_row_index = 0
 
     def visit_start_of_file(self, node):
         # only occurs in the single-file builder