diff --git a/elvish/action.go b/elvish/action.go
index ebbc03bc3..cc16e435a 100644
--- a/elvish/action.go
+++ b/elvish/action.go
@@ -78,10 +78,11 @@ func ActionValues(values ...string) string {
 
 func ActionValuesDescribed(values ...string) string {
 	// TODO verify length (description always exists)
+	sanitized := Sanitize(values...)
 	vals := make([]string, len(values))
-	for index, val := range values {
+	for index, val := range sanitized {
 		if index%2 == 0 {
-			vals[index/2] = fmt.Sprintf(`edit:complex-candidate %v &display-suffix=' (%v)'`, val, values[index+1])
+			vals[index/2] = fmt.Sprintf(`edit:complex-candidate %v &display-suffix=' (%v)'`, val, sanitized[index+1])
 		}
 	}
 	return strings.Join(vals, "\n")
diff --git a/elvish/snippet.go b/elvish/snippet.go
index b4fe92d86..ad2ef2855 100644
--- a/elvish/snippet.go
+++ b/elvish/snippet.go
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func snippetPositionalCompletion(action string) string {
 func snippetFlagCompletion(flag *pflag.Flag, action string) (snippet string) {
 	spec := []string{
 		fmt.Sprintf(`&long=%v`, flag.Name),
-		fmt.Sprintf(`&desc='%v'`, flag.Usage),
+		fmt.Sprintf(`&desc='%v'`, replacer.Replace(flag.Usage)),
 	}
 	if flag.Shorthand != "" {
 		spec = append(spec, fmt.Sprintf(`&short=%v`, flag.Shorthand))