diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/options.rb b/Library/Homebrew/options.rb
index 3988085ce6..6b982a4059 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/options.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/options.rb
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ require 'set'
 class Option
   attr_reader :name, :description, :flag
 
-  def initialize(name, description=nil)
+  def initialize(name, description="")
     @name, @flag = split_name(name)
-    @description = description.to_s
+    @description = description
   end
 
   def to_s