diff --git a/lisp/help.el b/lisp/help.el
index eaca33795ae..7e2e492a368 100644
--- a/lisp/help.el
+++ b/lisp/help.el
@@ -695,11 +695,13 @@ Returns a list of the form (BRIEF-DESC DEFN EVENT MOUSE-MSG)."
 	 (mouse-msg (if (or (memq 'click modifiers) (memq 'down modifiers)
 			    (memq 'drag modifiers))
                         " at that spot" ""))
-         ;; Use mouse-set-point to handle the case when a menu item
+         ;; Use `mouse-set-point' to handle the case when a menu item
          ;; is selected from the context menu that should describe KEY
          ;; at the position of mouse click that opened the context menu.
-         ;; When no mouse was involved, it defaults to window-point.
-	 (defn (save-excursion (mouse-set-point event) (key-binding key t))))
+         ;; When no mouse was involved, don't use `mouse-set-point'.
+         (defn (if (consp event)
+                   (save-excursion (mouse-set-point event) (key-binding key t))
+                 (key-binding key t))))
     ;; Handle the case where we faked an entry in "Select and Paste" menu.
     (when (and (eq defn nil)
 	       (stringp (aref key (1- (length key))))