diff --git a/artiq/frontend/artiq_rpctool.py b/artiq/frontend/artiq_rpctool.py
index bdecadb89..a97c5bb70 100755
--- a/artiq/frontend/artiq_rpctool.py
+++ b/artiq/frontend/artiq_rpctool.py
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ def list_targets(target_names, id_parameters):
 
 
 def list_methods(remote):
-    methods = remote.get_rpc_method_list()
-    for name, (argspec, docstring) in sorted(methods.items()):
+    doc = remote.get_rpc_method_list()
+    if doc["docstring"] is not None:
+        print(doc["docstring"])
+    for name, (argspec, docstring) in sorted(doc["methods"].items()):
         args = ""
         for arg in argspec["args"]:
             args += arg
diff --git a/artiq/protocols/pc_rpc.py b/artiq/protocols/pc_rpc.py
index da2c5ae66..918c26c17 100644
--- a/artiq/protocols/pc_rpc.py
+++ b/artiq/protocols/pc_rpc.py
@@ -442,15 +442,18 @@ class Server(_AsyncioServer):
                 try:
                     if obj["action"] == "get_rpc_method_list":
                         members = inspect.getmembers(target, inspect.ismethod)
-                        methods = {}
+                        doc = {
+                            "docstring": target.__doc__,
+                            "methods": {}
+                        }
                         for name, method in members:
                             if name.startswith("_"):
                                 continue
                             method = getattr(target, name)
                             argspec = inspect.getfullargspec(method)
-                            methods[name] = (dict(argspec.__dict__),
-                                             inspect.getdoc(method))
-                        obj = {"status": "ok", "ret": methods}
+                            doc["methods"][name] = (dict(argspec.__dict__),
+                                                    inspect.getdoc(method))
+                        obj = {"status": "ok", "ret": doc}
                     elif obj["action"] == "call":
                         logger.debug("calling %s", _PrettyPrintCall(obj))
                         method = getattr(target, obj["name"])