diff --git a/fish/cmds_gperf.h b/fish/cmds_gperf.h
index 92bd6070e..74db69d2a 100644
--- a/fish/cmds_gperf.h
+++ b/fish/cmds_gperf.h
@@ -23,10 +23,8 @@
  * guestfish can execute.
  */
 struct command_entry {
-  /* These fields are passed to pod2text to implement the online help. */
-  const char *name;
-  const char *shortdesc;
-  const char *podbody;
+  const char *name;             /* Short name. */
+  const char *help;             /* Online help. */
 
   /* The run_* function. */
   int (*run) (const char *cmd, size_t argc, char *argv[]);
diff --git a/fish/fish.c b/fish/fish.c
index c1dbfb4d5..50340a35a 100644
--- a/fish/fish.c
+++ b/fish/fish.c
@@ -531,24 +531,6 @@ set_up_terminal (void)
   have_terminfo = 1;
 }
 
-void
-pod2text (const char *name, const char *shortdesc, const char *str)
-{
-  FILE *fp;
-
-  fp = popen ("pod2text", "w");
-  if (fp == NULL) {
-    /* pod2text failed, maybe not found, so let's just print the
-     * source instead, since that's better than doing nothing.
-     */
-    printf ("%s - %s\n\n%s\n", name, shortdesc, str);
-    return;
-  }
-  fprintf (fp, "=head1 NAME\n\n%s - %s\n\n", name, shortdesc);
-  fputs (str, fp);
-  pclose (fp);
-}
-
 static void
 prepare_drives (struct drv *drv)
 {
diff --git a/fish/fish.h b/fish/fish.h
index 35978052f..f4b6c9cbe 100644
--- a/fish/fish.h
+++ b/fish/fish.h
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ extern int progress_bars;
 extern int remote_control_csh;
 extern const char *libvirt_uri;
 extern int issue_command (const char *cmd, char *argv[], const char *pipe);
-extern void pod2text (const char *name, const char *shortdesc, const char *body);
 extern void list_builtin_commands (void);
 extern int display_builtin_command (const char *cmd);
 extern void free_strings (char **argv);
diff --git a/generator/generator_fish.ml b/generator/generator_fish.ml
index 0c81dfcd6..516c5b197 100644
--- a/generator/generator_fish.ml
+++ b/generator/generator_fish.ml
@@ -76,11 +76,7 @@ let generate_fish_cmds () =
   (* List of command_entry structs. *)
   List.iter (
     fun (name, _, _, flags, _, shortdesc, longdesc) ->
-      pr "struct command_entry %s_cmd_entry = {\n" name;
-
       let name2 = replace_char name '_' '-' in
-      pr "  .name = \"%s\",\n" name2;
-
       let aliases =
         filter_map (function FishAlias n -> Some n | _ -> None) flags in
       let describe_alias =
@@ -89,10 +85,16 @@ let generate_fish_cmds () =
             (String.concat " or " (List.map (fun s -> "'" ^ s ^ "'") aliases))
         else "" in
 
-      pr "  .shortdesc = \"%s\",\n" shortdesc;
-      pr "  .podbody = %S,\n"
-        ("=head1 DESCRIPTION\n\n" ^ longdesc ^ describe_alias);
+      let pod =
+        sprintf "%s - %s\n\n=head1 DESCRIPTION\n\n%s\n\n%s"
+          name2 shortdesc longdesc describe_alias in
+      let text =
+        String.concat "\n" (pod2text ~trim:false ~discard:false "NAME" pod)
+        ^ "\n" in
 
+      pr "struct command_entry %s_cmd_entry = {\n" name;
+      pr "  .name = \"%s\",\n" name2;
+      pr "  .help = \"%s\",\n" (c_quote text);
       pr "  .run = run_%s\n" name;
       pr "};\n";
       pr "\n";
@@ -100,11 +102,7 @@ let generate_fish_cmds () =
 
   List.iter (
     fun (name, (_, args, optargs), _, flags, _, shortdesc, longdesc) ->
-      pr "struct command_entry %s_cmd_entry = {\n" name;
-
       let name2 = replace_char name '_' '-' in
-      pr "  .name = \"%s\",\n" name2;
-
       let aliases =
         filter_map (function FishAlias n -> Some n | _ -> None) flags in
 
@@ -155,12 +153,16 @@ Guestfish will prompt for these separately."
             (String.concat " or " (List.map (fun s -> "'" ^ s ^ "'") aliases))
         else "" in
 
-      pr "  .shortdesc = \"%s\",\n" shortdesc;
-      pr "  .podbody = %S,\n"
-        ("=head1 SYNOPSIS\n\n " ^ synopsis ^ "\n\n" ^
-         "=head1 DESCRIPTION\n\n" ^
-         longdesc ^ warnings ^ describe_alias);
+      let pod =
+        sprintf "%s - %s\n\n=head1 SYNOPSIS\n\n %s\n\n=head1 DESCRIPTION\n\n%s%s%s"
+          name2 shortdesc synopsis longdesc warnings describe_alias in
+      let text =
+        String.concat "\n" (pod2text ~trim:false ~discard:false "NAME" pod)
+        ^ "\n" in
 
+      pr "struct command_entry %s_cmd_entry = {\n" name;
+      pr "  .name = \"%s\",\n" name2;
+      pr "  .help = \"%s\",\n" (c_quote text);
       pr "  .run = run_%s\n" name;
       pr "};\n";
       pr "\n";
@@ -189,7 +191,7 @@ Guestfish will prompt for these separately."
   pr "\n";
   pr "  ct = lookup_fish_command (cmd, strlen (cmd));\n";
   pr "  if (ct) {\n";
-  pr "    pod2text (ct->entry->name, ct->entry->shortdesc, ct->entry->podbody);\n";
+  pr "    fputs (ct->entry->help, stdout);\n";
   pr "    return 0;\n";
   pr "  }\n";
   pr "  else\n";