diff --git a/bin/describe/describe_external_lib_deps.ml b/bin/describe/describe_external_lib_deps.ml
index 43e553ae0a26..b900f14e68c7 100644
--- a/bin/describe/describe_external_lib_deps.ml
+++ b/bin/describe/describe_external_lib_deps.ml
@@ -160,14 +160,7 @@ let to_dyn context_name external_resolved_libs =
 let term =
   let+ common = Common.term
   and+ context_name = Common.context_arg ~doc:"Build context to use."
-  and+ _ =
-    Arg.(
-      value
-      & opt (some string) None
-      & info [ "lang" ] ~docv:"VERSION"
-          ~doc:
-            "This argument has no effect and is deprecated. It exists solely \
-             for backwards compatibility.")
+  and+ _ = Describe_lang_compat.arg
   and+ format = Describe_format.arg in
   let config = Common.init common in
   Scheduler.go ~common ~config @@ fun () ->
diff --git a/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.ml b/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.ml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01d992993d0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.ml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+let arg =
+  Arg.(
+    value
+    & opt (some string) None
+    & info [ "lang" ] ~docv:"VERSION"
+        ~doc:
+          "This argument has no effect and is deprecated. It exists solely for \
+           backwards compatibility.")
diff --git a/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.mli b/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.mli
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0505bcdfad95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/describe/describe_lang_compat.mli
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+(** Dune describe commands used to take a --lang arugment that did nothing
+    expect for dune describe workspace. To keep compatilbility with accepting
+    such an argument we provide a dummy argument here that can be used. It's
+    value will typically be ignored. *)
+val arg : string option Cmdliner.Term.t
diff --git a/bin/describe/describe_opam_files.ml b/bin/describe/describe_opam_files.ml
index 75dd3d6f60cf..22622ce47741 100644
--- a/bin/describe/describe_opam_files.ml
+++ b/bin/describe/describe_opam_files.ml
@@ -4,15 +4,7 @@ open Stdune
 let term =
   let+ common = Common.term
   and+ format = Describe_format.arg
-  and+ _ =
-    Arg.(
-      value
-      & opt (some string) None
-      & info [ "lang" ] ~docv:"VERSION"
-          ~doc:
-            "This argument has no effect and is deprecated. It exists solely \
-             for backwards compatibility.")
-  in
+  and+ _ = Describe_lang_compat.arg in
   let config = Common.init common in
   Scheduler.go ~common ~config @@ fun () ->
   Build_system.run_exn @@ fun () ->
diff --git a/bin/describe/describe_pp.ml b/bin/describe/describe_pp.ml
index f5d08334b01f..9e46f7586746 100644
--- a/bin/describe/describe_pp.ml
+++ b/bin/describe/describe_pp.ml
@@ -95,14 +95,7 @@ let get_pped_file super_context file =
 let term =
   let+ common = Common.term
   and+ context_name = Common.context_arg ~doc:"Build context to use."
-  and+ _ =
-    Arg.(
-      value
-      & opt (some string) None
-      & info [ "lang" ] ~docv:"VERSION"
-          ~doc:
-            "This argument has no effect and is deprecated. It exists solely \
-             for backwards compatibility.")
+  and+ _ = Describe_lang_compat.arg
   and+ file =
     Arg.(required & pos 0 (some string) None (Arg.info [] ~docv:"FILE"))
   in