diff --git a/src/labthings_fastapi/thing.py b/src/labthings_fastapi/thing.py
index 71b3b3f0..0731940c 100644
--- a/src/labthings_fastapi/thing.py
+++ b/src/labthings_fastapi/thing.py
@@ -377,6 +377,7 @@ def thing_description(
 
         td = ThingDescription(
             title=getattr(self, "title", self.__class__.__name__),
+            description=self.__doc__,
             properties=properties,
             actions=actions,
             security="no_security",
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index d7a0773b..2337f057 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ def test_server_thing_descriptions():
 
     for thing_name in thing_names:
         thing_description = thing_descriptions[thing_name]
+
+        expected_description = "An example Thing with a few affordances."
+        assert thing_description["description"] == expected_description
+
         for action_name in actions:
             action = thing_description["actions"][action_name]
             expected_href = thing_name + "/" + action_name