diff --git a/cli-plugins/plugin/plugin.go b/cli-plugins/plugin/plugin.go
index 4ae85dbce4..cf57aad5e1 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/plugin/plugin.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/plugin/plugin.go
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func newPluginCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli, plugin *cobra.Command, meta
 		CompletionOptions: cobra.CompletionOptions{
 			DisableDefaultCmd:   false,
 			HiddenDefaultCmd:    true,
-			DisableDescriptions: true,
+			DisableDescriptions: os.Getenv("DOCKER_CLI_DISABLE_COMPLETION_DESCRIPTION") != "",
 		},
 	}
 	opts, _ := cli.SetupPluginRootCommand(cmd)
diff --git a/cmd/docker/docker.go b/cmd/docker/docker.go
index 29a3ed5957..2f927aa1e6 100644
--- a/cmd/docker/docker.go
+++ b/cmd/docker/docker.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func newDockerCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cli.TopLevelCommand {
 		CompletionOptions: cobra.CompletionOptions{
 			DisableDefaultCmd:   false,
 			HiddenDefaultCmd:    true,
-			DisableDescriptions: true,
+			DisableDescriptions: os.Getenv("DOCKER_CLI_DISABLE_COMPLETION_DESCRIPTION") != "",
 		},
 	}
 	cmd.SetIn(dockerCli.In())