diff --git a/lisp/help-fns.el b/lisp/help-fns.el
index 2d0da178a4c..1af37df3792 100644
--- a/lisp/help-fns.el
+++ b/lisp/help-fns.el
@@ -875,7 +875,8 @@ the C sources, too."
   (when (and (get symbol 'custom-set)
              ;; Don't override manually written documentation.
              (not (string-match (rx word-start "setopt" word-end)
-                                (get symbol 'variable-documentation))))
+                                (documentation-property
+                                 symbol 'variable-documentation))))
     ;; FIXME: `princ` removes text properties added by s-c-k.
     (princ (substitute-command-keys "\
 Setting this variable with `setq' has no effect; use either `setopt'