diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2b972e3..6a962d9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ For breaking changes, check [here](#breaking-changes).
 ## Unreleased
 
 - Populate `:msg` in the `:error-fn` data for `dispatch` command errors (`:no-match`, `:input-exhausted`), like option errors already carry it
+- zsh completion: classify an option without a `:desc` as an option. It was added as a value, which offered it where zsh hides described options
 
 ## 0.12.81
 
diff --git a/src/babashka/cli.cljc b/src/babashka/cli.cljc
index 4b8bb1a..7cfd912 100644
--- a/src/babashka/cli.cljc
+++ b/src/babashka/cli.cljc
@@ -1711,7 +1711,7 @@ complete -F " fn " " names-sp "
 ")
     :zsh (str "#compdef " names-sp "
 " fn "() {
-    local -a lines described optdescribed bare
+    local -a lines described optdescribed bareopt bare
     lines=(\"${(@f)$(\"${words[1]}\" org.babashka.cli/completions complete --shell zsh -- \"${(@)words[2,CURRENT]}\" 2>/dev/null)}\")
     local do_files= l v d
     for l in $lines; do
@@ -1721,8 +1721,11 @@ complete -F " fn " " names-sp "
         # _describe eats backslashes and splits on ':', so escape both
         v=\"${v//\\\\/\\\\\\\\}\"; d=\"${d//\\\\/\\\\\\\\}\"
         v=\"${v//:/\\\\:}\"; d=\"${d//:/\\\\:}\"
-        if [[ -z $d ]]; then bare+=(\"$v\")
-        elif [[ $v == -* ]]; then optdescribed+=(\"$v:$d\")
+        # an option is an option with or without a description: classifying an
+        # undescribed one as a value would offer it where zsh hides the rest
+        if [[ $v == -* ]]; then
+            if [[ -z $d ]]; then bareopt+=(\"$v\"); else optdescribed+=(\"$v:$d\"); fi
+        elif [[ -z $d ]]; then bare+=(\"$v\")
         else described+=(\"$v:$d\"); fi
     done
     local ret=1
@@ -1735,6 +1738,7 @@ complete -F " fn " " names-sp "
     # flags-only word), so their merged-alias display lines cannot inflate the
     # column layout of another group
     (( $#optdescribed )) && { _describe -t options option optdescribed; ret=0; }
+    (( $#bareopt )) && { _describe -t options option bareopt; ret=0; }
     (( $#bare )) && { _describe -t values value bare; ret=0; }
     [[ -n $do_files ]] && { _files; ret=0; }
     return $ret
diff --git a/test/babashka/cli/completion_test.cljc b/test/babashka/cli/completion_test.cljc
index a40b210..4fb12d2 100644
--- a/test/babashka/cli/completion_test.cljc
+++ b/test/babashka/cli/completion_test.cljc
@@ -160,6 +160,15 @@
              (snippet-via-cmd cmd-table {:prog "myprogram"} shell))
           shell))))
 
+(deftest zsh-snippet-option-classification-test
+  (let [zsh (snippet-via-cmd cmd-table {:prog "myprogram"} "zsh")]
+    (testing "a dash-prefixed candidate is classified as an option before its description is considered"
+      (is (str/includes? zsh "if [[ $v == -* ]]"))
+      (is (not (str/includes? zsh "elif [[ $v == -* ]]"))))
+    (testing "an option without a description is added under the options tag"
+      (is (str/includes? zsh "bareopt+=(\"$v\")"))
+      (is (str/includes? zsh "_describe -t options option bareopt")))))
+
 (defn- complete-out
   "Run the completion handler for `cmdline` and return its emitted
   `value\\tdescription` lines as a set of strings."
diff --git a/test/resources/completion/completion.zsh b/test/resources/completion/completion.zsh
index a1ac447..b9f8f3c 100644
--- a/test/resources/completion/completion.zsh
+++ b/test/resources/completion/completion.zsh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #compdef myprogram
 _babashka_cli_complete_myprogram() {
-    local -a lines described optdescribed bare
+    local -a lines described optdescribed bareopt bare
     lines=("${(@f)$("${words[1]}" org.babashka.cli/completions complete --shell zsh -- "${(@)words[2,CURRENT]}" 2>/dev/null)}")
     local do_files= l v d
     for l in $lines; do
@@ -10,8 +10,11 @@ _babashka_cli_complete_myprogram() {
         # _describe eats backslashes and splits on ':', so escape both
         v="${v//\\/\\\\}"; d="${d//\\/\\\\}"
         v="${v//:/\\:}"; d="${d//:/\\:}"
-        if [[ -z $d ]]; then bare+=("$v")
-        elif [[ $v == -* ]]; then optdescribed+=("$v:$d")
+        # an option is an option with or without a description: classifying an
+        # undescribed one as a value would offer it where zsh hides the rest
+        if [[ $v == -* ]]; then
+            if [[ -z $d ]]; then bareopt+=("$v"); else optdescribed+=("$v:$d"); fi
+        elif [[ -z $d ]]; then bare+=("$v")
         else described+=("$v:$d"); fi
     done
     local ret=1
@@ -24,6 +27,7 @@ _babashka_cli_complete_myprogram() {
     # flags-only word), so their merged-alias display lines cannot inflate the
     # column layout of another group
     (( $#optdescribed )) && { _describe -t options option optdescribed; ret=0; }
+    (( $#bareopt )) && { _describe -t options option bareopt; ret=0; }
     (( $#bare )) && { _describe -t values value bare; ret=0; }
     [[ -n $do_files ]] && { _files; ret=0; }
     return $ret