diff --git a/completions/_hwclock b/completions/_hwclock
index 82619ee0363..a0fd8315288 100644
--- a/completions/_hwclock
+++ b/completions/_hwclock
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ _comp_cmd_hwclock()
             ;;
     esac
 
-    COMPREPLY=(
-        $(PATH="$PATH:/sbin" compgen -W '$(_parse_help "$1")' -- "$cur"))
+    local PATH=$PATH:/sbin
+    _comp_compgen_help
 } &&
     complete -F _comp_cmd_hwclock hwclock
 
diff --git a/completions/badblocks b/completions/badblocks
index df84e280cc8..14e4e05ee83 100644
--- a/completions/badblocks
+++ b/completions/badblocks
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ _comp_cmd_badblocks()
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
         # Filter out -w (dangerous) and -X (internal use)
-        COMPREPLY=($(compgen -X '-[wX]' -W '$(_parse_usage "$1")' -- "$cur"))
+        _comp_compgen -R usage
+        ((${#COMPREPLY[@]})) &&
+            _comp_compgen -- -X '-[wX]' -W '"${COMPREPLY[@]}"'
         return
     fi
 
diff --git a/completions/dnssec-keygen b/completions/dnssec-keygen
index 4685af23786..9db55b5a232 100644
--- a/completions/dnssec-keygen
+++ b/completions/dnssec-keygen
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@ _comp_cmd_dnssec_keygen()
     esac
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
-        COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W '$(_parse_help "$1" | \
-            command sed -e "s/:\$//")' -- "$cur"))
+        _comp_compgen -R help
+        ((${#COMPREPLY[@]})) &&
+            _comp_compgen -- -W '"${COMPREPLY[@]%:}"'
         return
     fi
 } &&
diff --git a/completions/jps b/completions/jps
index f90ab7eaafc..be5b8d62151 100644
--- a/completions/jps
+++ b/completions/jps
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ _comp_cmd_jps()
     esac
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
-        # Not using _parse_usage because output has [-help] which does not
-        # mean -h, -e, -l, -p...
+        # Not using _comp_compgen_usage because output has [-help] which does
+        # not mean -h, -e, -l, -p...
         _comp_compgen -- -W "-q -m -l -v -V -J -help"
         [[ ${COMPREPLY-} == -J* ]] && compopt -o nospace
     else
diff --git a/completions/links b/completions/links
index ea14d6ddc89..935cfa7816b 100644
--- a/completions/links
+++ b/completions/links
@@ -80,8 +80,9 @@ _comp_cmd_links()
     esac
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
-        COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W '$(_parse_help "$1" |
-            command grep -vF -- "->")' -- "$cur"))
+        _comp_compgen -R help
+        ((${#COMPREPLY[@]})) &&
+            _comp_compgen -- -W '"${COMPREPLY[@]}"' -X "->"
         return
     fi
 
diff --git a/completions/ps b/completions/ps
index 1a7e2901005..d32083ecea4 100644
--- a/completions/ps
+++ b/completions/ps
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ _comp_cmd_ps()
     esac
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
-        # sed: strip single char dashless ", x," that trip _parse_help
+        # sed: strip single char dashless ", x," that trip _comp_compgen_help
         _comp_compgen_help - <<<"$({
             "$1" --help
             "$1" --help all
diff --git a/completions/puppet b/completions/puppet
index fbf5eeba045..91b8341e719 100644
--- a/completions/puppet
+++ b/completions/puppet
@@ -147,7 +147,8 @@ _comp_cmd_puppet()
                     ;;
                 *)
                     _comp_cmd_puppet__subcmd_opts "$1" "$subcommand"
-                    # _parse_usage doesn't grok [-D|--daemonize|--no-daemonize]
+                    # _comp_compgen_usage doesn't grok
+                    # [-D|--daemonize|--no-daemonize]
                     _comp_compgen -a -- -W '--no-daemonize'
                     return
                     ;;
@@ -298,7 +299,8 @@ _comp_cmd_puppet()
                     ;;
                 *)
                     _comp_cmd_puppet__subcmd_opts "$1" "$subcommand"
-                    # _parse_usage doesn't grok [-D|--daemonize|--no-daemonize]
+                    # _comp_compgen_usage doesn't grok
+                    # [-D|--daemonize|--no-daemonize]
                     _comp_compgen -a -- -W '--no-daemonize'
                     return
                     ;;
diff --git a/completions/tar b/completions/tar
index 2c35491a68c..47d02f69ffb 100644
--- a/completions/tar
+++ b/completions/tar
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 # -------------------------
 #
 # For GNU tar, everything is parsed from `tar --help` output so not so much
-# per-distribution work should be needed.  The _parse_help does not seem to be
-# good enough so parsed here directly.
+# per-distribution work should be needed.  The _comp_compgen_help does not seem
+# to be good enough so parsed here directly.
 #
 #
 # FIXME: --starting-file (-K) (should be matched for extraction only)
diff --git a/completions/zopfli b/completions/zopfli
index 735fc76da72..49d530589d6 100644
--- a/completions/zopfli
+++ b/completions/zopfli
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ _comp_cmd_zopfli()
     esac
 
     if [[ $cur == -* ]]; then
-        COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W \
-            '$(_parse_help "$1" -h | command sed -e "s/#$//")' -- "$cur"))
+        _comp_compgen -R help -- -h
+        ((${#COMPREPLY[@]})) &&
+            _comp_compgen -- -W '"${COMPREPLY[@]%#}"'
         [[ ${COMPREPLY-} == --i ]] && compopt -o nospace
         return
     fi