diff --git a/lisp/wid-edit.el b/lisp/wid-edit.el
index a70598bb6c9..40d7b5b902c 100644
--- a/lisp/wid-edit.el
+++ b/lisp/wid-edit.el
@@ -285,12 +285,17 @@ widget-choose
   ;; Apply quote substitution to customize choice menu item text,
   ;; whether it occurs in a widget buffer or in a popup menu.
   (let ((items (mapc (lambda (x)
-                       (when (consp x)
-                         (dotimes (i (1- (length x)))
-                           (when (stringp (nth i x))
-                             (setcar (nthcdr i x)
-                                     (substitute-command-keys
-                                      (car (nthcdr i x))))))))
+                       (if (proper-list-p x)
+                           (dotimes (i (1- (length x)))
+                             (when (stringp (nth i x))
+                               (setcar (nthcdr i x)
+                                       (substitute-command-keys
+                                        (car (nthcdr i x))))))
+                         ;; ITEMS has simple item definitions.
+                         (when (and (consp x) (stringp (car x))
+                                    (stringp (cdr x)))
+                           (setcar x (substitute-command-keys (car x)))
+                           (setcdr x (substitute-command-keys (cdr x))))))
 		     items)))
     (cond ((and (< (length items) widget-menu-max-size)
 	        event (display-popup-menus-p))