diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj b/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
index 2f1619f5..48f6e0e2 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
@@ -248,6 +248,31 @@
       [(binding [*out* *err*]
          (println "No such task:" task-name)) 1])))
 
+(defn doc-from-task [sci-ctx tasks task]
+  (or (:doc task)
+      (when-let [fn-sym (cond (qualified-symbol? task)
+                         task
+                         (map? task)
+                         (let [t (:task task)]
+                           (when (qualified-symbol? t)
+                             t)))]
+        (let [requires (:requires tasks)
+              requires (map (fn [x]
+                              (list 'quote x))
+                            (concat requires (:requires task)))
+              prog (format "
+;; first try to require the fully qualified namespace, as this is the cheapest option
+(try (require '%s)
+  ;; on failure, the namespace might have been an alias so we require other namespaces
+  (catch Exception _ %s))
+(:doc (meta (resolve '%s)))"
+                           (namespace fn-sym)
+                           (if (seq requires)
+                             (list* 'require requires)
+                             "")
+                           fn-sym)]
+          (sci/eval-string* sci-ctx prog)))))
+
 (defn list-tasks
   [sci-ctx]
   (let [tasks (:tasks @bb-edn)]
@@ -264,15 +289,7 @@
         (println)
         (doseq [k names
                 :let [task (get tasks (symbol k))]]
-          (let [task (if (qualified-symbol? task)
-                       {:doc (sci/eval-string*
-                              sci-ctx
-                              (format "
-(try (require '%s) (catch Exception _ nil))
-(:doc (meta (resolve '%s)))" (namespace task) task))}
-                       task)]
-            (println (str (format fmt k)
-                          (when-let [d (:doc task)]
-                            (str " " d)))))))
+          (println (str (format fmt k)
+                        (when-let [d (doc-from-task sci-ctx tasks task)]
+                          (str " " d))))))
       (println "No tasks found."))))
-
diff --git a/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj b/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
index 93417f10..f23487d3 100644
--- a/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/bb_edn_test.clj
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@
     (let [res (test-utils/bb nil "tasks")]
       (is (str/includes? res "No tasks found."))))
   (test-utils/with-config {:paths ["test-resources/task_scripts"]
-                           :tasks {'task1
+                           :tasks {:requires '([tasks :as t])
+                                   'task1
                                    {:doc "task1 doc"
                                     :task '(+ 1 2 3)}
                                    'task2
@@ -117,9 +118,12 @@
                                    {:task '(+ 1 2 3)
                                     :private true}
                                    'foo 'tasks/foo
-                                   'bar 'non-existing/bar}}
+                                   'bar 't/foo
+                                   'baz 'non-existing/bar
+                                   'quux {:requires '([tasks :as t2])
+                                          :task 't2/foo}}}
     (let [res (test-utils/bb nil "tasks")]
-      (is (= "The following tasks are available:\n\nbar  \nfoo   Foo docstring\ntask1 task1 doc\ntask2 task2 doc\n"
+      (is (= "The following tasks are available:\n\nbar   Foo docstring\nbaz  \nfoo   Foo docstring\nquux  Foo docstring\ntask1 task1 doc\ntask2 task2 doc\n"
              res)))))
 
 (deftest task-priority-test