diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py b/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
index 73e6163944e1..4292084abba9 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from pyparsing import (
     Combine, Empty, FollowedBy, Forward, Group, Literal, oneOf, OneOrMore,
     Optional, ParseBaseException, ParseFatalException, ParserElement,
-    ParseResults, QuotedString, Regex, StringEnd, Suppress, ZeroOrMore)
+    ParseResults, QuotedString, Regex, StringEnd, Suppress, White, ZeroOrMore)
 
 import matplotlib as mpl
 from . import _api, cbook
@@ -2060,6 +2060,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         p.accent        <<= Group(
             Suppress(p.bslash)
             + oneOf([*self._accent_map, *self._wide_accents])
+            + Suppress(Optional(White()))
             - p.placeable
         )
 
diff --git a/requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt b/requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt
index afb5c4105fae..c77787e4c72b 100644
--- a/requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ ipython
 ipywidgets
 numpydoc>=0.8
 packaging>=20
-pyparsing<3.0.0
 mpl-sphinx-theme
 sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter>=1.1.0
 sphinx-gallery>=0.10
diff --git a/requirements/testing/all.txt b/requirements/testing/all.txt
index d11ac58331cc..fb7beef90f16 100644
--- a/requirements/testing/all.txt
+++ b/requirements/testing/all.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 certifi
 coverage
-pyparsing<3.0.0
 pytest!=4.6.0,!=5.4.0
 pytest-cov
 pytest-rerunfailures