diff --git a/examples/08_subcommands.rs b/examples/08_subcommands.rs
index 7381b0b6adb..fe6cdae3105 100644
--- a/examples/08_subcommands.rs
+++ b/examples/08_subcommands.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ fn main() {
     //
     // Just like arg() and args(), subcommands can be specified one at a time via subcommand() or
     // multiple ones at once with a Vec<> provided to subcommands().
-    let matches = App::new("MyApp")
+    let app = App::new("MyApp")
         // Normal App and Arg configuration goes here...
         // In the following example assume we wanted an application which
         // supported an "add" subcommand, this "add" subcommand also took
@@ -33,8 +33,19 @@ fn main() {
                         .index(1)
                         .required(true),
                 ),
-        )
-        .get_matches();
+        );
+
+    let app = if true {
+      let about_text = "i-am-an-about-text".to_string() + "-for-foobar";
+      app.subcommand(
+        App::new("foobar")
+          .about(about_text)
+      )
+    } else {
+      app
+    };
+
+    let matches = app.get_matches();
 
     // You can check if a subcommand was used like normal
     if matches.is_present("add") {
diff --git a/src/build/app/mod.rs b/src/build/app/mod.rs
index b22893d48ba..515a039abdb 100644
--- a/src/build/app/mod.rs
+++ b/src/build/app/mod.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ pub use self::settings::AppSettings;
 
 // Std
 use std::{
+    borrow::Cow,
     collections::HashMap,
     env,
     ffi::OsString,
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ pub struct App<'help> {
     pub(crate) version: Option<&'help str>,
     pub(crate) long_version: Option<&'help str>,
     pub(crate) license: Option<&'help str>,
-    pub(crate) about: Option<&'help str>,
+    pub(crate) about: Option<Cow<'help, str>>,
     pub(crate) long_about: Option<&'help str>,
     pub(crate) before_help: Option<&'help str>,
     pub(crate) before_long_help: Option<&'help str>,
@@ -460,7 +461,7 @@ impl<'help> App<'help> {
     /// [long format]: App::long_about()
     /// [short format]: App::about()
     /// [`App::about`]: App::about()
-    pub fn about<S: Into<&'help str>>(mut self, about: S) -> Self {
+    pub fn about<S: Into<Cow<'help, str>>>(mut self, about: S) -> Self {
         self.about = Some(about.into());
         self
     }
diff --git a/src/output/help.rs b/src/output/help.rs
index e8a9b7d6bdc..6f37300644e 100644
--- a/src/output/help.rs
+++ b/src/output/help.rs
@@ -646,9 +646,12 @@ impl<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> Help<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> {
 
     fn write_about(&mut self, before_new_line: bool, after_new_line: bool) -> io::Result<()> {
         let about = if self.use_long {
-            self.parser.app.long_about.or(self.parser.app.about)
+            self.parser
+                .app
+                .long_about
+                .or_else(|| self.parser.app.about.as_ref().map(|a| a.as_ref()))
         } else {
-            self.parser.app.about
+            self.parser.app.about.as_ref().map(|a| a.as_ref())
         };
         if let Some(output) = about {
             if before_new_line {
@@ -702,9 +705,13 @@ impl<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> Help<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> {
         let spec_vals = &self.sc_spec_vals(app);
 
         let about = if self.use_long {
-            app.long_about.unwrap_or_else(|| app.about.unwrap_or(""))
+            app.long_about
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| app.about.as_ref().map(|a| a.as_ref()).unwrap_or(""))
         } else {
-            app.about.unwrap_or_else(|| app.long_about.unwrap_or(""))
+            app.about
+                .as_ref()
+                .map(|a| a.as_ref())
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| app.long_about.unwrap_or(""))
         };
 
         self.subcmd(sc_str, next_line_help, longest)?;
@@ -745,7 +752,7 @@ impl<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> Help<'help, 'app, 'parser, 'writer> {
             true
         } else {
             // force_next_line
-            let h = app.about.unwrap_or("");
+            let h = app.about.as_ref().map(|a| a.as_ref()).unwrap_or("");
             let h_w = display_width(h) + display_width(spec_vals);
             let taken = longest + 12;
             self.term_w >= taken