diff --git a/etc/rc.subr b/etc/rc.subr
index cdec9a24548..d04e25371c1 100644
--- a/etc/rc.subr
+++ b/etc/rc.subr
@@ -844,6 +844,10 @@ check_startmsgs()
 #
 #	enabled		Return true if the service is enabled.
 #
+#	describe	Show the service's description
+#
+#	extracommands	Show the service's extra commands
+#
 #	Variables available to methods, and after run_rc_command() has
 #	completed:
 #
@@ -912,7 +916,7 @@ run_rc_command()
 	eval _override_command=\$${name}_program
 	command=${_override_command:-$command}
 
-	_keywords="start stop restart rcvar enabled $extra_commands"
+	_keywords="start stop restart rcvar enabled describe extracommands $extra_commands"
 	rc_pid=
 	_pidcmd=
 	_procname=${procname:-${command}}
@@ -962,12 +966,13 @@ run_rc_command()
 		if [ "$_elem" != "$rc_arg" ]; then
 			continue
 		fi
-					# if ${rcvar} is set, $1 is not "rcvar"
+					# if ${rcvar} is set, $1 is not "rcvar" and not "describe"
 					# and ${rc_pid} is not set, then run
 					#	checkyesno ${rcvar}
 					# and return if that failed
 					#
-		if [ -n "${rcvar}" -a "$rc_arg" != "rcvar" -a "$rc_arg" != "stop" ] ||
+		if [ -n "${rcvar}" -a "$rc_arg" != "rcvar" -a "$rc_arg" != "stop" \
+		    -a "$rc_arg" != "describe" ] ||
 		    [ -n "${rcvar}" -a "$rc_arg" = "stop" -a -z "${rc_pid}" ]; then
 			if ! checkyesno ${rcvar}; then
 				if [ -n "${rc_quiet}" ]; then
@@ -1004,6 +1009,16 @@ run_rc_command()
 
 		case "$rc_arg" in	# default operations...
 
+		describe)
+			if [ -n "$desc" ]; then
+				echo "$desc"
+			fi
+			;;
+	
+		extracommands)
+			echo "$extra_commands"
+			;;
+
 		status)
 			_run_rc_precmd || return 1
 			if [ -n "$rc_pid" ]; then
diff --git a/share/examples/csh/dot.cshrc b/share/examples/csh/dot.cshrc
index e9f0b38e176..62d7e5d5a29 100644
--- a/share/examples/csh/dot.cshrc
+++ b/share/examples/csh/dot.cshrc
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ complete rsync	"c,*:/,F:/," \
 complete scp	"c,*:/,F:/," \
       		"c,*:,F:$HOME," \
       		'c/*@/$hosts/:/'
-complete service  	'c/-/(e l r v)/' 'p/1/`service -l`/' 'n/*/(start stop reload restart status rcvar onestart onestop)/'
+complete service  	'c/-/(e l r v)/' 'p/1/`service -l`/' 'n/*/(start stop reload restart status rcvar describe extracommands onestart onestop oneextracommands)/'
 complete svn		'C@file:///@`'"${HOME}/etc/tcsh/complete.d/svn"'`@@' \
       		'n@ls@(file:/// svn+ssh:// svn://)@@' \
       		'n@help@(add blame cat checkout cleanup commit copy delete export help import info list ls lock log merge mkdir move propdel \
diff --git a/share/man/man8/rc.8 b/share/man/man8/rc.8
index 5d296cd1096..6215bf8600a 100644
--- a/share/man/man8/rc.8
+++ b/share/man/man8/rc.8
@@ -323,6 +323,10 @@ If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off
 operation), show the status of the process.
 Otherwise it is not necessary to support this argument.
 Defaults to displaying the process ID of the program (if running).
+.It Cm describe
+Print a short description of what the script does.
+.It Cm extracommands
+Print the script's non-standard commands.
 .It Cm poll
 If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off
 operation), wait for the command to exit.