diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 4ca461d177..855891bdd4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 4.0-rc2
+ * cqlsh: fix DESC TYPE with non-ascii character in the identifier (CASSANDRA-16400)
  * Remove drivers dependency and bring cql_keywords_reserved on server side (CASSANDRA-16659)
  * Fix in-browser "help", Python 3 (CASSANDRA-16658)
  * Fix DROP COMPACT STORAGE for counters (CASSANDRA-16653)
diff --git a/bin/cqlsh.py b/bin/cqlsh.py
index b879cdcf2f..44086e06f5 100755
--- a/bin/cqlsh.py
+++ b/bin/cqlsh.py
@@ -618,37 +618,37 @@ class Shell(cmd.Cmd):
         self.connection_versions = vers
 
     def get_keyspace_names(self):
-        return list(map(str, list(self.conn.metadata.keyspaces.keys())))
+        return list(self.conn.metadata.keyspaces)
 
     def get_columnfamily_names(self, ksname=None):
         if ksname is None:
             ksname = self.current_keyspace
 
-        return list(map(str, list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).tables.keys())))
+        return list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).tables)
 
     def get_materialized_view_names(self, ksname=None):
         if ksname is None:
             ksname = self.current_keyspace
 
-        return list(map(str, list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).views.keys())))
+        return list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).views)
 
     def get_index_names(self, ksname=None):
         if ksname is None:
             ksname = self.current_keyspace
 
-        return list(map(str, list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).indexes.keys())))
+        return list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).indexes)
 
     def get_column_names(self, ksname, cfname):
         if ksname is None:
             ksname = self.current_keyspace
         layout = self.get_table_meta(ksname, cfname)
-        return [str(col) for col in layout.columns]
+        return list(layout.columns)
 
     def get_usertype_names(self, ksname=None):
         if ksname is None:
             ksname = self.current_keyspace
 
-        return list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).user_types.keys())
+        return list(self.get_keyspace_meta(ksname).user_types)
 
     def get_usertype_layout(self, ksname, typename):
         if ksname is None:
@@ -1400,9 +1400,7 @@ class Shell(cmd.Cmd):
         """
         Print the output for a DESCRIBE KEYSPACES query
         """
-        names = list()
-        for row in rows:
-            names.append(str(row['name']))
+        names = [ensure_str(r['name']) for r in rows]
 
         print('')
         cmd.Cmd.columnize(self, names)
@@ -1422,7 +1420,7 @@ class Shell(cmd.Cmd):
                 keyspace = row['keyspace_name']
                 names = list()
 
-            names.append(str(row['name']))
+            names.append(ensure_str(row['name']))
 
         if keyspace is not None:
             self.print_keyspace_element_names(keyspace, names)
diff --git a/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py b/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
index 1056c52a4e..d22bf8ba2d 100644
--- a/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
+++ b/pylib/cqlshlib/copyutil.py
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ class ExportWriter(object):
 
         if self.header:
             writer = csv.writer(self.current_dest.output, **self.options.dialect)
-            writer.writerow(self.columns)
+            writer.writerow([ensure_str(c) for c in self.columns])
 
         return True
 
diff --git a/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_cqlsh_completion.py b/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_cqlsh_completion.py
index 8b296b8f9b..c898cbed04 100644
--- a/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_cqlsh_completion.py
+++ b/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_cqlsh_completion.py
@@ -696,10 +696,7 @@ class TestCqlshCompletion(CqlshCompletionCase):
         self.trycompletions('CREATE TA', immediate='BLE ')
         self.create_columnfamily_table_template('TABLE')
 
-    def test_complete_in_describe(self):
-        """
-        Tests for Cassandra-10733
-        """
+    def test_complete_in_describe(self):  # Cassandra-10733
         self.trycompletions('DES', immediate='C')
         # quoted_keyspace = '"' + self.cqlsh.keyspace + '"'
         self.trycompletions('DESCR', immediate='IBE ')
diff --git a/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_unicode.py b/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_unicode.py
index b31e81c991..836c2d9b8b 100644
--- a/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_unicode.py
+++ b/pylib/cqlshlib/test/test_unicode.py
@@ -56,10 +56,20 @@ class TestCqlshUnicode(BaseTestCase):
             output = c.cmd_and_response('SELECT * FROM t;')
             self.assertIn(col_name, output)
 
-    def test_multiline_input(self):  # CASSANDRA-16539
+    def test_unicode_multiline_input(self):  # CASSANDRA-16400
         with testrun_cqlsh(tty=True, env=self.default_env) as c:
             value = '値'
             c.send("INSERT INTO t(k, v) VALUES (1, \n'%s');\n" % (value,))
             c.read_to_next_prompt()
             output = c.cmd_and_response('SELECT v FROM t;')
             self.assertIn(value, output)
+
+    def test_unicode_desc(self):  # CASSANDRA-16539
+        with testrun_cqlsh(tty=True, env=self.default_env) as c:
+            v1 = 'ࠑ'
+            v2 = 'Ξ'
+            output = c.cmd_and_response('CREATE TYPE "%s" ( "%s" int );' % (v1, v2))
+            output = c.cmd_and_response('DESC TYPES;')
+            self.assertIn(v1, output)
+            output = c.cmd_and_response('DESC TYPE "%s";' %(v1,))
+            self.assertIn(v2, output)