diff --git a/beets/ui/completion_base.sh b/beets/ui/completion_base.sh
index 774dd2334..e83f9d2c5 100644
--- a/beets/ui/completion_base.sh
+++ b/beets/ui/completion_base.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 # plugins dynamically
 #
 # Currently, only Bash 3.2 and newer is supported and the
-# `bash-completion` package is required.
+# `bash-completion` package (v2.8 or newer) is required.
 #
 # TODO
 # ----
@@ -46,7 +46,30 @@
 # * Support long options with `=`, e.g. `--config=file`. Debian's bash
 #   completion package can handle this.
 #
+# Note that 'bash-completion' v2.8 is a part of Debian 10, which is part of
+# LTS until 2024-06-30.  After this date, the minimum version requirement can
+# be changed, and newer features can be used unconditionally.  See PR#5301.
+#
 
+if [[ ${BASH_COMPLETION_VERSINFO[0]} -ne 2 \
+   || ${BASH_COMPLETION_VERSINFO[1]} -lt 8 ]]; then
+  echo "Incompatible version of 'bash-completion'!"
+  return 1
+fi
+
+# The later code relies on 'bash-completion' version 2.12, but older versions
+# are still supported.  Here, we provide implementations of the newer functions
+# in terms of older ones, if 'bash-completion' is too old to have them.
+
+if [[ ${BASH_COMPLETION_VERSINFO[1]} -lt 12 ]]; then
+  _comp_get_words() {
+    _get_comp_words_by_ref "$@"
+  }
+
+  _comp_compgen_filedir() {
+    _filedir "$@"
+  }
+fi
 
 # Determines the beets subcommand and dispatches the completion
 # accordingly.
@@ -54,7 +77,7 @@ _beet_dispatch() {
   local cur prev cmd=
 
   COMPREPLY=()
-  _get_comp_words_by_ref -n : cur prev
+  _comp_get_words -n : cur prev
 
   # Look for the beets subcommand
   local arg
@@ -99,7 +122,7 @@ _beet_complete() {
     completions="${flags___common} ${opts} ${flags}"
     COMPREPLY+=( $(compgen -W "$completions"  -- $cur) )
   else
-    _filedir
+    _comp_compgen_filedir
   fi
 }
 
@@ -114,12 +137,12 @@ _beet_complete_global() {
       ;;
     -l|--library|-c|--config)
       # Filename completion
-      _filedir
+      _comp_compgen_filedir
       return
       ;;
     -d|--directory)
       # Directory completion
-      _filedir -d
+      _comp_compgen_filedir -d
       return
       ;;
   esac