diff --git a/lisp/org.el b/lisp/org.el
index 72681d046..c5bb2b107 100644
--- a/lisp/org.el
+++ b/lisp/org.el
@@ -9103,6 +9103,14 @@ Note: this function also decodes single byte encodings like
     (setq s (replace-match "%40" t t s)))
   s)
 
+(defun org-link-prettify (link)
+  "Return a human-readable representation of LINK.
+The car of LINK must be a raw link the cdr of LINK must be either
+a link description or nil."
+  (let ((desc (or (cadr link) "<no description>")))
+    (concat (format "%-45s" (substring desc 0 (min (length desc) 40)))
+	    "[[" (car link) "]]")))
+
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun org-insert-link-global ()
   "Insert a link like Org-mode does.
@@ -9185,9 +9193,7 @@ be used as the default description."
 Use TAB to complete link prefixes, then RET for type-specific completion support\n")
 	(when org-stored-links
 	  (princ "\nStored links are available with <up>/<down> or M-p/n (most recent with RET):\n\n")
-	  (princ (mapconcat
-		  (lambda (x)
-		    (if (nth 1 x) (concat (car x) " (" (nth 1 x) ")") (car x)))
+	  (princ (mapconcat 'org-link-prettify
 		  (reverse org-stored-links) "\n"))))
       (let ((cw (selected-window)))
 	(select-window (get-buffer-window "*Org Links*" 'visible))
@@ -9196,7 +9202,7 @@ Use TAB to complete link prefixes, then RET for type-specific completion support
 	  (org-fit-window-to-buffer))
 	(and (window-live-p cw) (select-window cw)))
       ;; Fake a link history, containing the stored links.
-      (setq tmphist (append (mapcar 'car org-stored-links)
+      (setq tmphist (append (mapcar 'org-link-prettify org-stored-links)
 			    org-insert-link-history))
       (setq all-prefixes (append (mapcar 'car org-link-abbrev-alist-local)
 				 (mapcar 'car org-link-abbrev-alist)