diff --git a/active_help.go b/active_help.go
index 5f965e057..25c30e3cc 100644
--- a/active_help.go
+++ b/active_help.go
@@ -17,21 +17,17 @@ package cobra
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 const (
 	activeHelpMarker = "_activeHelp_ "
 	// The below values should not be changed: programs will be using them explicitly
 	// in their user documentation, and users will be using them explicitly.
-	activeHelpEnvVarSuffix  = "_ACTIVE_HELP"
-	activeHelpGlobalEnvVar  = "COBRA_ACTIVE_HELP"
+	activeHelpEnvVarSuffix  = "ACTIVE_HELP"
+	activeHelpGlobalEnvVar  = configEnvVarGlobalPrefix + "_" + activeHelpEnvVarSuffix
 	activeHelpGlobalDisable = "0"
 )
 
-var activeHelpEnvVarPrefixSubstRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[^A-Z0-9_]`)
-
 // AppendActiveHelp adds the specified string to the specified array to be used as ActiveHelp.
 // Such strings will be processed by the completion script and will be shown as ActiveHelp
 // to the user.
@@ -60,8 +56,5 @@ func GetActiveHelpConfig(cmd *Command) string {
 // variable.  It has the format <PROGRAM>_ACTIVE_HELP where <PROGRAM> is the name of the
 // root command in upper case, with all non-ASCII-alphanumeric characters replaced by `_`.
 func activeHelpEnvVar(name string) string {
-	// This format should not be changed: users will be using it explicitly.
-	activeHelpEnvVar := strings.ToUpper(fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", name, activeHelpEnvVarSuffix))
-	activeHelpEnvVar = activeHelpEnvVarPrefixSubstRegexp.ReplaceAllString(activeHelpEnvVar, "_")
-	return activeHelpEnvVar
+	return configEnvVar(name, activeHelpEnvVarSuffix)
 }
diff --git a/completions.go b/completions.go
index 22084f23b..5070becc0 100644
--- a/completions.go
+++ b/completions.go
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ func (c *Command) initCompleteCmd(args []string) {
 				// 2- Even without completions, we need to print the directive
 			}
 
-			noDescriptions := (cmd.CalledAs() == ShellCompNoDescRequestCmd)
+			noDescriptions := cmd.CalledAs() == ShellCompNoDescRequestCmd || GetEnvConfig(cmd, configEnvVarSuffixDescriptions) == configEnvVarDescriptionsOff
 			noActiveHelp := GetActiveHelpConfig(finalCmd) == activeHelpGlobalDisable
 			out := finalCmd.OutOrStdout()
 			for _, comp := range completions {
@@ -901,8 +901,12 @@ func CompErrorln(msg string) {
 	CompError(fmt.Sprintf("%s\n", msg))
 }
 
-// configEnvVarGlobalPrefix should not be changed: users will be using it explicitly.
-const configEnvVarGlobalPrefix = "COBRA"
+// These values should not be changed: users will be using them explicitly.
+const (
+	configEnvVarGlobalPrefix       = "COBRA"
+	configEnvVarSuffixDescriptions = "COMPLETION_DESCRIPTIONS"
+	configEnvVarDescriptionsOff    = "off"
+)
 
 var configEnvVarPrefixSubstRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[^A-Z0-9_]`)
 
diff --git a/site/content/completions/_index.md b/site/content/completions/_index.md
index 4efad2907..b2b8017c6 100644
--- a/site/content/completions/_index.md
+++ b/site/content/completions/_index.md
@@ -393,6 +393,9 @@ $ source <(helm completion bash --no-descriptions)
 $ helm completion [tab][tab]
 bash        fish        powershell  zsh
 ```
+
+Setting the `<PROGRAM>_COMPLETION_DESCRIPTIONS` environment variable (falling back to `COBRA_COMPLETION_DESCRIPTIONS` if empty or not set) to `off` achieves the same. `<PROGRAM>` is the name of your program with all non-ASCII-alphanumeric characters replaced by `_`.
+
 ## Bash completions
 
 ### Dependencies