diff --git a/guix/scripts/describe.scm b/guix/scripts/describe.scm
index 46feea2940..fdff07d0e3 100644
--- a/guix/scripts/describe.scm
+++ b/guix/scripts/describe.scm
@@ -108,8 +108,7 @@ (define (display-profile-info profile fmt)
   "Display information about PROFILE, a profile as created by (guix channels),
 in the format specified by FMT."
   (define number
-    (match (profile-generations profile)
-      ((_ ... last) last)))
+    (generation-number profile))
 
   (match fmt
     ('human