diff --git a/src/help.c b/src/help.c
index d03560b3c9cd4cf63e1ffb19ef43f2d416f8a9a5..f7d52f056c5a4a881dd0948a9a198e1c7b8abaaa 100644
--- a/src/help.c
+++ b/src/help.c
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ void help_init(void)
      * plus one or two \n's. */
     for (f = allfuncs; f != NULL; f = f->next)
 	if (f->menus & currmenu)
-	    allocsize += (16 * MAXCHARLEN) + strlen(f->help) + 2;
+	    allocsize += (16 * MAXCHARLEN) + strlen(_(f->help)) + 2;
 
 #ifndef NANO_TINY
     /* If we're on the main list, we also count the toggle help text.