diff --git a/guix/scripts/describe.scm b/guix/scripts/describe.scm
index f21311af09..7d0ecb0a4d 100644
--- a/guix/scripts/describe.scm
+++ b/guix/scripts/describe.scm
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ (define (display-package-search-path fmt)
 
 (define (channel->sexp channel)
   `(channel
-    (name ,(channel-name channel))
+    (name ',(channel-name channel))
     (url ,(channel-url channel))
     (commit ,(channel-commit channel))))