diff --git a/src/complete.cpp b/src/complete.cpp
index 380b473ef..65c21ada4 100644
--- a/src/complete.cpp
+++ b/src/complete.cpp
@@ -713,14 +713,7 @@ void completer_t::complete_cmd_desc(const wcstring &str) {
 /// Returns a description for the specified function, or an empty string if none.
 static wcstring complete_function_desc(const wcstring &fn) {
     wcstring result;
-    bool has_description = function_get_desc(fn, result);
-    if (!has_description) {
-        function_get_definition(fn, result);
-        // A completion description is a single line.
-        for (wchar_t &c : result) {
-            if (c == L'\n') c = L' ';
-        }
-    }
+    function_get_desc(fn, result);
     return result;
 }