diff --git a/kernel/register.cc b/kernel/register.cc
index 85d3d4748..edf6ea7ba 100644
--- a/kernel/register.cc
+++ b/kernel/register.cc
@@ -880,54 +880,39 @@ struct HelpPass : public Pass {
 		}
 		fclose(f);
 	}
-	void write_cell_rst(std::string cell, std::string help, std::string code)
+	void write_cell_rst(Yosys::SimHelper cell)
 	{
 		// open
-		string safe_name = cell.substr(1);
-		FILE *f = fopen(stringf("docs/source/cell/%s.rst", safe_name.c_str()).c_str(), "wt");
+		FILE *f = fopen(stringf("docs/source/cell/%s.rst", cell.filesafe_name().c_str()).c_str(), "wt");
 
 		// make header
-		string short_help = "";
-		string long_help = "";
-		string title_line = cell;
-		for (auto line : split_tokens(help, "\n")) {
-			if (short_help == "") {
-				size_t first_pos = line.find_first_not_of(" \t");
-				// skip empty lines
-				if (first_pos == string::npos) continue;
-				if (line.find(cell.c_str()) == string::npos) {
-					// strip leading/trailing space
-					size_t last_pos = line.find_last_not_of(" \t");
-					short_help = line.substr(first_pos, last_pos - first_pos +1);
-					// skip missing help message
-					if (short_help == "No help message for this cell type found.") {
-						long_help += line;
-						long_help += "\n";
-					} else {
-						title_line = stringf("%s - %s", cell.c_str(), short_help.c_str());
-					}
-				}
-			} else {
-				long_help += line;
-				long_help += "\n";
-			}
-		}
+		string title_line;
+		if (cell.short_desc.length())
+			title_line = stringf("%s - %s", cell.name.c_str(), cell.short_desc.c_str());
+		else title_line = cell.name;
 		string underline = "\n";
 		underline.insert(0, title_line.length(), '=');
 		fprintf(f, "%s\n", title_line.c_str());
 		fprintf(f, "%s\n", underline.c_str());
 
 		// help text
-		fprintf(f, "%s\n", long_help.c_str());
+		fprintf(f, "%s\n", cell.desc.c_str());
 
 		// source code
+		fprintf(f, "Simulation model (Verilog)\n");
+		fprintf(f, "--------------------------\n\n");
 		fprintf(f, ".. code:: verilog\n\n");
 		std::stringstream ss;
-		ss << code;
+		ss << cell.code;
 		for (std::string line; std::getline(ss, line, '\n');) {
-			fprintf(f, "\t%s\n", line.c_str());
+			fprintf(f, "   %s\n", line.c_str());
 		}
 
+		// footer
+		fprintf(f, "\n.. note::\n\n");
+		fprintf(f, "   This page was auto-generated from the output of\n");
+		fprintf(f, "   ``help %s``.\n", cell.name.c_str());
+
 		// close
 		fclose(f);
 	}
@@ -988,7 +973,7 @@ struct HelpPass : public Pass {
 			}
 			else if (args[1] == "-write-rst-cells-manual") {
 				for (auto &it : cell_help_messages.cell_help) {
-					write_cell_rst(it.first, it.second.desc, it.second.code);
+					write_cell_rst(it.second);
 				}
 			}
 			else if (pass_register.count(args[1])) {