diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit.go
index 74716f334..ecfa3248d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ type EditOptions struct {
 	Selector     string
 	EditFilename string
 	AddFilename  string
+	Description  string
 }
 
 func NewCmdEdit(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*EditOptions) error) *cobra.Command {
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ func NewCmdEdit(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*EditOptions) error) *cobra.Comman
 	}
 
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.AddFilename, "add", "a", "", "Add a new file to the gist")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Description, "desc", "d", "", "New description for the gist")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.EditFilename, "filename", "f", "", "Select a file to edit")
 
 	return cmd
@@ -114,6 +116,12 @@ func editRun(opts *EditOptions) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("You do not own this gist.")
 	}
 
+	shouldUpdate := false
+	if opts.Description != "" {
+		shouldUpdate = true
+		gist.Description = opts.Description
+	}
+
 	if opts.AddFilename != "" {
 		files, err := getFilesToAdd(opts.AddFilename)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -166,7 +174,6 @@ func editRun(opts *EditOptions) error {
 			return err
 		}
 		text, err := opts.Edit(editorCommand, filename, gistFile.Content, opts.IO)
-
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -215,16 +222,15 @@ func editRun(opts *EditOptions) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if len(filesToUpdate) == 0 {
+	if len(filesToUpdate) > 0 {
+		shouldUpdate = true
+	}
+
+	if !shouldUpdate {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	err = updateGist(apiClient, host, gist)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return updateGist(apiClient, host, gist)
 }
 
 func updateGist(apiClient *api.Client, hostname string, gist *shared.Gist) error {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit_test.go b/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit_test.go
index 74c4f3502..92d043a05 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/gist/edit/edit_test.go
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ func TestNewCmdEdit(t *testing.T) {
 				AddFilename: "cool.md",
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "description",
+			cli:  `123 --desc "my new description"`,
+			wants: EditOptions{
+				Selector:    "123",
+				Description: "my new description",
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
@@ -262,6 +270,39 @@ func Test_editRun(t *testing.T) {
 				AddFilename: fileToAdd,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "change description",
+			gist: &shared.Gist{
+				ID:          "1234",
+				Description: "my old description",
+				Files: map[string]*shared.GistFile{
+					"sample.txt": {
+						Filename: "sample.txt",
+						Type:     "text/plain",
+					},
+				},
+				Owner: &shared.GistOwner{Login: "octocat"},
+			},
+			httpStubs: func(reg *httpmock.Registry) {
+				reg.Register(httpmock.REST("POST", "gists/1234"),
+					httpmock.StatusStringResponse(201, "{}"))
+			},
+			wantParams: map[string]interface{}{
+				"description": "my new description",
+				"updated_at":  "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+				"public":      false,
+				"files": map[string]interface{}{
+					"sample.txt": map[string]interface{}{
+						"content":  "new file content",
+						"filename": "sample.txt",
+						"type":     "text/plain",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			opts: &EditOptions{
+				Description: "my new description",
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {