examples/public-inbox-config | 2 --
 lib/PublicInbox/Config.pm    | 2 +-
 lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm      | 6 +++++-
 t/cgi.t                      | 4 +++-
 t/config.t                   | 2 --

diff --git a/examples/public-inbox-config b/examples/public-inbox-config
index 6793f256dfbc9d9cf95a1436d1fd1ac26709df51..0c1db118da45043e491c0850cfbd042ac573aa8f 100644
--- a/examples/public-inbox-config
+++ b/examples/public-inbox-config
@@ -5,11 +5,9 @@ 	address = try@public-inbox.org
 	address = sandbox@public-inbox.org
 	address = test@public-inbox.org
 	mainrepo = /home/pi/test-main.git
-	description = test/sandbox area, occasionally reset
 	url = http://example.com/test
 [publicinbox "meta"]
 	address = meta@public-inbox.org
 	mainrepo = /home/pi/meta-main.git
-	description = development discussion
 	url = http://example.com/meta
 	atomUrl = http://example.com/meta
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Config.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Config.pm
index d71bc52e203d7c79efc3f9a4c4aab14bfdb974bf..32bd9ab6211e43e272ed0c6d43b274f6fb7dbb73 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Config.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Config.pm
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
 	defined $pfx or return;
 
 	my %rv;
-	foreach my $k (qw(mainrepo description address)) {
+	foreach my $k (qw(mainrepo address)) {
 		my $v = $self->{"$pfx.$k"};
 		$rv{$k} = $v if defined $v;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
index 4671323cc1bd74b48a07c905b9065d889d28bcc9..8cc8b728887446aff0cb622352563ef1eb66ad7a 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
@@ -200,9 +200,13 @@ 	my $pi_config = $args->{pi_config};
 	my $listname = $args->{listname};
 	my $cgi = $args->{cgi};
 	my %rv;
+	if (open my $fh, '<', "$args->{git_dir}/description") {
+		chomp($rv{description} = <$fh>);
+		close $fh;
+	}
 
 	if ($pi_config && defined $listname && length $listname) {
-		foreach my $key (qw(description address)) {
+		foreach my $key (qw(address)) {
 			$rv{$key} = $pi_config->get($listname, $key) || "";
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/t/cgi.t b/t/cgi.t
index 365acd842c20ee5c91fcc1d9eac3e38ab3b1a82a..b59ca54ae15e6d96ea4683e691cd8b5256caf798 100644
--- a/t/cgi.t
+++ b/t/cgi.t
@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@ 	is(1, mkdir($home, 0755), "setup ~/ for testing");
 	is(1, mkdir($pi_home, 0755), "setup ~/.public-inbox");
 	is(0, system(qw(git init -q --bare), $maindir), "git init (main)");
 
+	open my $fh, '>', "$maindir/description" or die "open: $!\n";
+	print $fh "test for public-inbox\n";
+	close $fh or die "close: $!\n";
 	my %cfg = (
 		"$cfgpfx.address" => $addr,
 		"$cfgpfx.mainrepo" => $maindir,
-		"$cfgpfx.description" => 'test for public-inbox',
 	);
 	while (my ($k,$v) = each %cfg) {
 		is(0, system(qw(git config --file), $pi_config, $k, $v),
diff --git a/t/config.t b/t/config.t
index 50bc8d6d3eefb729417750a5721a9ddb1380a496..d4700fc9b009e73e874ab8024acd6a1b828b9231 100644
--- a/t/config.t
+++ b/t/config.t
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ 	is_deeply($cfg->lookup('meta@public-inbox.org'), {
 		'mainrepo' => '/home/pi/meta-main.git',
 		'address' => 'meta@public-inbox.org',
 		-primary_address => 'meta@public-inbox.org',
-		'description' => 'development discussion',
 		'listname' => 'meta',
 	}, "lookup matches expected output");
 
@@ -43,7 +42,6 @@ 		              'sandbox@public-inbox.org',
 			      'test@public-inbox.org'],
 		-primary_address => 'try@public-inbox.org',
 		'mainrepo' => '/home/pi/test-main.git',
-		'description' => 'test/sandbox area, occasionally reset',
 		'listname' => 'test',
 	}, "lookup matches expected output for test");
 }