diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index 35c1b1957..2acff947c 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -786,14 +786,6 @@ class CommonOptionsParser(optparse.OptionParser, object):
         self.add_path_option()
         self.add_format_option()
 
-    def add_help_text(self, text):
-        """Add a custom help text below the usage line to give extra hints
-        """
-        if self._added_help is False:
-            self.usage = self.usage + "\n"
-            self._added_help = True
-        self.usage = self.usage + "\n"
-        self.usage = self.usage + text
 
 # Subcommand parsing infrastructure.
 #
@@ -803,7 +795,6 @@ class CommonOptionsParser(optparse.OptionParser, object):
 # There you will also find a better description of the code and a more
 # succinct example program.
 
-
 class Subcommand(object):
     """A subcommand of a root command-line application that may be
     invoked by a SubcommandOptionParser.
diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index e87a1b18d..37b7ddc0a 100644
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -973,10 +973,8 @@ def list_func(lib, opts, args):
 
 
 list_cmd = ui.Subcommand('list', help='query the library', aliases=('ls',))
-list_cmd.parser.add_help_text('query the library')
-list_cmd.parser.add_help_text(
-    'Example usage: %prog -f \'$album: $title\' artist:beatles'
-)
+list_cmd.parser.usage += "\n" \
+    'Example: %prog -af \'$album: $title\' artist:beatles'
 list_cmd.parser.add_all_common_options()
 list_cmd.func = list_func
 default_commands.append(list_cmd)