diff --git a/src/uu/basenc/basenc.md b/src/uu/basenc/basenc.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17916bd4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/uu/basenc/basenc.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# basenc
+
+```
+basenc [OPTION]... [FILE]"
+```
+
+Encode/decode data and print to standard output
+With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
+
+When decoding, the input may contain newlines in addition to the bytes of
+the formal alphabet. Use --ignore-garbage to attempt to recover
+from any other non-alphabet bytes in the encoded stream.
diff --git a/src/uu/basenc/src/basenc.rs b/src/uu/basenc/src/basenc.rs
index 1bc2aae44..afc25c736 100644
--- a/src/uu/basenc/src/basenc.rs
+++ b/src/uu/basenc/src/basenc.rs
@@ -19,14 +19,10 @@ use uucore::{
 use std::io::{stdin, Read};
 use uucore::error::UClapError;
 
-static ABOUT: &str = "\
-Encode/decode data and print to standard output
-With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
+use uucore::{help_about, help_usage};
 
-When decoding, the input may contain newlines in addition to the bytes of
-the formal alphabet. Use --ignore-garbage to attempt to recover
-from any other non-alphabet bytes in the encoded stream.
-";
+const ABOUT: &str = help_about!("basenc.md");
+const USAGE: &str = help_usage!("basenc.md");
 
 const ENCODINGS: &[(&str, Format)] = &[
     ("base64", Format::Base64),
@@ -39,8 +35,6 @@ const ENCODINGS: &[(&str, Format)] = &[
     ("z85", Format::Z85),
 ];
 
-const USAGE: &str = "{} [OPTION]... [FILE]";
-
 pub fn uu_app() -> Command {
     let mut command = base_common::base_app(ABOUT, USAGE);
     for encoding in ENCODINGS {