Multiple Runs with RDOC with --ri option fails

Someone just recently updated the RubyGems CVS head with the ability to 
generate RI documentation along with the RDoc docs.  However, invoking 
the RI document builder more than once in the same running program seems 
to cause errors.  (Gems has been invoking rdoc multiple times *without* 
the --ri option for some time now).

Program output and stack trace is given below.

The output below is from a linux system running Ruby 1.8.4 and the CVS 
head of RubyGems.  I also got the same error on a Windows system running 
Ruby 1.8.2.

Gems runs Rdoc in the following manner:

    r = RDoc::RDoc.new
    r.document args

Where args is an array that contains:

     --ri --op /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/doc/activerecord-1.14.0/ri 
--main README --line-numbers --template jamis --quiet lib README

Here is the output (including stack trace) of problem:

------------8<----------------------------------------------
$ sudo ruby -Ilib bin/gem install rails -y --backtrace
Successfully installed rails-1.1.0
Successfully installed activesupport-1.3.0
Successfully installed activerecord-1.14.0
Successfully installed actionpack-1.12.0
Successfully installed actionmailer-1.2.0
Successfully installed actionwebservice-1.1.0
Installing ri documentation for activesupport-1.3.0...
Installing RDoc documentation for activesupport-1.3.0...
Installing ri documentation for activerecord-1.14.0...
ERROR:  While executing gem ... (RuntimeError)
     Unhandled special: Special: type=17, text="The"
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/to_flow.rb:181:in 
`convert_special'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/to_flow.rb:158:in 
`convert_flow'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/to_flow.rb:150:in 
`convert_flow'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/to_flow.rb:83:in 
`accept_paragraph'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/fragments.rb:182:in 
`accept'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup/fragments.rb:165:in 
`accept'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/markup/simple_markup.rb:258:in `convert'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/generators/ri_generator.rb:224:in `markup'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/generators/ri_generator.rb:107:in 
`generate_class_info'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/generators/ri_generator.rb:90:in 
`process_class'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/generators/ri_generator.rb:85:in `generate'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/generators/ri_generator.rb:84:in `generate'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/rdoc/rdoc.rb:263:in `document'
./lib/rubygems/doc_manager.rb:83:in `run_rdoc'
./lib/rubygems/doc_manager.rb:61:in `install_ri'
./lib/rubygems/doc_manager.rb:29:in `generate_rdoc'
./lib/rubygems/gem_commands.rb:267:in `execute'
./lib/rubygems/gem_commands.rb:266:in `execute'
./lib/rubygems/gem_commands.rb:209:in `execute'
./lib/rubygems/command.rb:63:in `invoke'
./lib/rubygems/cmd_manager.rb:111:in `process_args'
./lib/rubygems/cmd_manager.rb:82:in `run'
./lib/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:23:in `run'
bin/gem:17
------------8<----------------------------------------------

Any suggestions?

-- 
-- Jim Weirich    [e-mail]     http://onestepback.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct,
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)