diff --git a/lisp/help-fns.el b/lisp/help-fns.el
index 6c4c3f4da97..77f1c1e678f 100644
--- a/lisp/help-fns.el
+++ b/lisp/help-fns.el
@@ -1589,7 +1589,9 @@ it is displayed along with the global value."
   ;; Make a link to customize if this variable can be customized.
   (when (custom-variable-p variable)
     (let ((customize-label "customize")
-          (custom-set (get variable 'custom-set)))
+          (custom-set (get variable 'custom-set))
+          (opoint (with-current-buffer standard-output
+                    (point))))
       (princ (concat "  You can " customize-label (or text " this variable.")))
       (when (and custom-set
                  ;; Don't override manually written documentation.
@@ -1606,7 +1608,7 @@ it is displayed along with the global value."
                         "."))))
       (with-current-buffer standard-output
 	(save-excursion
-          (while (re-search-backward (concat "\\(" customize-label "\\)") nil t)
+          (while (re-search-backward (concat "\\(" customize-label "\\)") opoint t)
 	    (help-xref-button 1 'help-customize-variable variable))))
       (terpri))))