diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/ui/buildinfohelper.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/ui/buildinfohelper.py
index 4996b4235d..2ca0bd380e 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/ui/buildinfohelper.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/ui/buildinfohelper.py
@@ -225,6 +225,11 @@ class ORMWrapper(object):
                 if value is None:
                     value = ''
                 desc = vardump[k]['doc'];
+                if desc is None:
+                    var_words = [word for word in k.split('_')]
+                    root_var = "_".join([word for word in var_words if word.isupper()])
+                    if root_var and root_var != k and root_var in vardump:
+                        desc = vardump[root_var]['doc']
                 if desc is None:
                     desc = ''
                 Variable.objects.create( build = build_obj,