diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 86ff4b163e..d7ed9a5d6b 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Merged from 2.0:
 
 
 2.1.0-final
+ * cqlsh DESC CLUSTER fails retrieving ring information (CASSANDRA-7687)
 Merged from 2.0:
  * Support connecting to ipv6 jmx with nodetool (CASSANDRA-7669)
 
diff --git a/bin/cqlsh b/bin/cqlsh
index 18db842047..a4ad6d0ea2 100755
--- a/bin/cqlsh
+++ b/bin/cqlsh
@@ -678,6 +678,7 @@ class Shell(cmd.Cmd):
     def get_ring(self):
         if self.current_keyspace is None or self.current_keyspace == 'system':
             raise NoKeyspaceError("Ring view requires a current non-system keyspace")
+        self.conn.metadata.token_map.rebuild_keyspace(self.current_keyspace, build_if_absent=True)
         return self.conn.metadata.token_map.tokens_to_hosts_by_ks[self.current_keyspace]
 
     def get_table_meta(self, ksname, tablename):