diff --git a/completions/update-alternatives b/completions/update-alternatives
index 0d678fcc82a..b6f52830931 100644
--- a/completions/update-alternatives
+++ b/completions/update-alternatives
@@ -83,7 +83,12 @@ _comp_cmd_update_alternatives()
             _comp_cmd_update_alternatives__installed
             ;;
         *)
-            _comp_compgen_help
+            _comp_compgen_help - <<<"$(LANG=C "$1" --help 2>&1 | command sed '
+                /usage:/,/^[[:space:]]*$/{
+                  s/^\([[:space:]]*usage:\)\{0,1\}[[:space:]]*[^[:space:]]*alternatives /  /
+                  s/^[[:space:]]*\[\(-.*\)\]/  \1/
+                }
+                /common options:/,$s/ --/\n --/g')"
             ;;
     esac
 } &&
diff --git a/test/t/test_update_alternatives.py b/test/t/test_update_alternatives.py
index 7c77730744f..16d63e295b1 100644
--- a/test/t/test_update_alternatives.py
+++ b/test/t/test_update_alternatives.py
@@ -6,3 +6,7 @@ class TestUpdateAlternatives:
     @pytest.mark.complete("update-alternatives --", require_cmd=True)
     def test_1(self, completion):
         assert completion
+
+    @pytest.mark.complete("update-alternatives --", require_cmd=True)
+    def test_2(self, bash, completion):
+        assert all(x in completion for x in ["--list", "--remove"])