I don't think there's an easy way out for this one. You might do something like: (add-hook 'typo-mode-hook (lambda () (when (and typo-mode (derived-mode-p 'markdown-mode)) (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap))) (set-keymap-parent map typo-mode-map) (define-key map (kbd "`") 'self-insert-command) (push `(typo-mode . ,map) minor-mode-overriding-map-alist)))))