diff --git a/pandas/io/excel/_base.py b/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
index 4d6a766ad6cfa..daca671f21c95 100644
--- a/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
+++ b/pandas/io/excel/_base.py
@@ -755,6 +755,16 @@ class ExcelWriter(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
     >>> with ExcelWriter("path_to_file.xlsx", mode="a", engine="openpyxl") as writer:
     ...     df.to_excel(writer, sheet_name="Sheet3")
 
+    You can specify arguments to the underlying engine. For example to not
+    calculate the result of a formula:
+
+    >>> df = pd.DataFrame(["=1+1"])
+    ... with ExcelWriter(
+    ...     "path_to_file.xlsx",
+    ...     engine_kwargs={"strings_to_formulas":False}
+    ... ) as writer:
+    ...     df.to_excel(writer)
+
     You can store Excel file in RAM:
 
     >>> import io
diff --git a/pandas/io/excel/_xlsxwriter.py b/pandas/io/excel/_xlsxwriter.py
index 06c73f2c6199e..1d6c71a3d9f20 100644
--- a/pandas/io/excel/_xlsxwriter.py
+++ b/pandas/io/excel/_xlsxwriter.py
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ def __init__(
             engine_kwargs=engine_kwargs,
         )
 
-        self.book = Workbook(self.handles.handle, **engine_kwargs)
+        self.book = Workbook(self.handles.handle, engine_kwargs)
 
     def save(self):
         """
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_xlsxwriter.py b/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_xlsxwriter.py
index 79d2f55a9b8ff..80ded9a08ecf0 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_xlsxwriter.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/excel/test_xlsxwriter.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ def test_write_append_mode_raises(ext):
             ExcelWriter(f, engine="xlsxwriter", mode="a")
 
 
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nan_inf_to_errors", [True, False])
 def test_kwargs(ext, nan_inf_to_errors):
     # GH 42286