diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index 6685e355360..d84f98a1322 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2011-03-11  Juanma Barranquero  <lekktu@gmail.com>
+
+	Backport revno:103622 from trunk.
+	* help-fns.el (describe-variable): Don't complete keywords.
+	Suggested by Teodor Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com>.
+
 2011-03-11  Eli Zaretskii  <eliz@gnu.org>
 
 	* files.el (file-ownership-preserved-p): Pass `integer' as an
diff --git a/lisp/help-fns.el b/lisp/help-fns.el
index ba8565f5e1e..e0cfb7039f9 100644
--- a/lisp/help-fns.el
+++ b/lisp/help-fns.el
@@ -585,9 +585,10 @@ it is displayed along with the global value."
 				     "Describe variable (default %s): " v)
 				  "Describe variable: ")
 				obarray
-				'(lambda (vv)
-				   (or (boundp vv)
-				       (get vv 'variable-documentation)))
+                                (lambda (vv)
+                                  (and (not (keywordp vv))
+                                       (or (boundp vv)
+                                           (get vv 'variable-documentation))))
 				t nil nil
 				(if (symbolp v) (symbol-name v))))
      (list (if (equal val "")