diff --git a/fire/helptext.py b/fire/helptext.py
index 347278da..f20a3d65 100644
--- a/fire/helptext.py
+++ b/fire/helptext.py
@@ -491,7 +491,8 @@ def _CreateFlagItem(flag, docstring_info, spec, required=False,
 
   # We need to handle the case where there is a default of None, but otherwise
   # the argument has another type.
-  if arg_default == 'None':
+  # Don't wrap in Optional if the type already indicates it's optional.
+  if arg_default == 'None' and arg_type and 'None' not in arg_type:
     arg_type = f'Optional[{arg_type}]'
 
   arg_type = f'Type: {arg_type}' if arg_type else ''
@@ -524,6 +525,11 @@ def _GetArgType(arg, spec):
   """
   if arg in spec.annotations:
     arg_type = spec.annotations[arg]
+    # For generic types (e.g., Optional[str], List[int], Union[int, str]),
+    # __qualname__ only returns the base name without type arguments.
+    # Use repr() instead to get the full type string.
+    if hasattr(arg_type, '__args__'):
+      return repr(arg_type)
     try:
       return arg_type.__qualname__
     except AttributeError:
diff --git a/fire/helptext_test.py b/fire/helptext_test.py
index c7098fc4..9fb2dd39 100644
--- a/fire/helptext_test.py
+++ b/fire/helptext_test.py
@@ -152,6 +152,37 @@ def testHelpTextFunctionWithTypesAndDefaultNone(self):
         help_screen)
     self.assertNotIn('NOTES', help_screen)
 
+  def testHelpTextOptionalTypeWithDefault(self):
+    # Regression test for https://github.com/google/python-fire/issues/508
+    # Optional[str] with a non-None default should show the full type
+    # including the inner type, not just "Optional" or "Union".
+    component = tc.py3.WithDefaultsAndTypes().get_optional_str
+    help_screen = helptext.HelpText(
+        component=component,
+        trace=trace.FireTrace(component, name='get_optional_str'))
+    self.assertIn('Type:', help_screen)
+    # The type annotation must include 'str' to indicate the actual type.
+    # Without the fix, __qualname__ returns just 'Optional' or 'Union'
+    # which loses the inner type information.
+    self.assertRegex(help_screen, r'Type:.*str')
+    # Must not show bare 'Optional' or 'Union' without type arguments
+    self.assertNotRegex(help_screen, r'Type: Optional\n')
+    self.assertNotRegex(help_screen, r'Type: Union\n')
+
+  def testHelpTextOptionalTypeWithNoneDefault(self):
+    # Regression test for https://github.com/google/python-fire/issues/508
+    # Optional[str] with default=None should NOT show "Optional[Optional]"
+    # or "Optional[Union]".
+    component = tc.py3.WithDefaultsAndTypes().get_optional_str_none
+    help_screen = helptext.HelpText(
+        component=component,
+        trace=trace.FireTrace(component, name='get_optional_str_none'))
+    self.assertIn('Type:', help_screen)
+    self.assertNotIn('Optional[Optional]', help_screen)
+    self.assertNotIn('Optional[Union]', help_screen)
+    # Should show the inner type (str) in the type annotation
+    self.assertRegex(help_screen, r'Type:.*str')
+
   def testHelpTextFunctionWithTypes(self):
     component = tc.py3.WithTypes().double
     help_screen = helptext.HelpText(
diff --git a/fire/test_components_py3.py b/fire/test_components_py3.py
index 192302d3..8d669172 100644
--- a/fire/test_components_py3.py
+++ b/fire/test_components_py3.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import functools
+import typing
 from typing import Tuple
 
 
@@ -99,3 +100,9 @@ def double(self, count: float = 0) -> float:
 
   def get_int(self, value: int = None):
     return 0 if value is None else value
+
+  def get_optional_str(self, value: typing.Optional[str] = 'something'):
+    return value
+
+  def get_optional_str_none(self, value: typing.Optional[str] = None):
+    return value