diff --git a/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R b/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
index 38dd3ce48..f8c4ede9a 100644
--- a/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
+++ b/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
@@ -8,48 +8,54 @@
 # This file contains RPC functions for the packages pane.
 # These functions are called via callMethod from the Positron R extension.
 
-# Return a list of installed packages
+.ps.pkg_list_installed <- function(lib.loc = NULL) {
+    ip <- utils::installed.packages(
+        lib.loc = lib.loc,
+        fields = c("Description", "Maintainer")
+    )
+
+    name <- ip[, "Package"]
+    version <- ip[, "Version"]
+    id <- paste0(name, "-", version)
+    # Collapse whitespace so a multi-line Description fits on one line in the UI.
+    description <- trimws(gsub(
+        "\\s+",
+        " ",
+        ifelse(is.na(ip[, "Description"]), "", ip[, "Description"]),
+        perl = TRUE
+    ))
+    # Strip "<email>" markers so "Hadley Wickham <h@posit.co>" becomes "Hadley Wickham".
+    author <- trimws(gsub(
+        "\\s*<[^>]+>",
+        "",
+        gsub(
+            "\\s+",
+            " ",
+            ifelse(is.na(ip[, "Maintainer"]), "", ip[, "Maintainer"]),
+            perl = TRUE
+        ),
+        perl = TRUE
+    ))
+
+    unname(Map(
+        list,
+        id = id,
+        name = name,
+        displayName = name,
+        version = version,
+        description = description,
+        author = author
+    ))
+}
+
+# Return a list of installed packages. The pak/base/renv methods exist for
+# parity with install/update operations; for listing we always use
+# utils::installed.packages(), scoped to the renv library when requested.
 #' @export
 .ps.rpc.pkg_list <- function(method = c("pak", "base", "renv")) {
     method <- match.arg(method)
-    switch(
-        method,
-        pak = {
-            old_opt <- options(pak.no_extra_messages = TRUE)
-            on.exit(options(old_opt), add = TRUE)
-            pkgs <- pak::lib_status()
-            lapply(seq_len(nrow(pkgs)), function(i) {
-                list(
-                    id = paste0(pkgs$package[[i]], "-", pkgs$version[[i]]),
-                    name = pkgs$package[[i]],
-                    displayName = pkgs$package[[i]],
-                    version = as.character(pkgs$version[[i]])
-                )
-            })
-        },
-        base = {
-            ip <- utils::installed.packages()
-            lapply(seq_len(nrow(ip)), function(i) {
-                list(
-                    id = paste0(ip[i, "Package"], "-", ip[i, "Version"]),
-                    name = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    displayName = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    version = ip[i, "Version"]
-                )
-            })
-        },
-        renv = {
-            ip <- utils::installed.packages(lib.loc = renv::paths$library())
-            lapply(seq_len(nrow(ip)), function(i) {
-                list(
-                    id = paste0(ip[i, "Package"], "-", ip[i, "Version"]),
-                    name = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    displayName = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    version = ip[i, "Version"]
-                )
-            })
-        }
-    )
+    lib.loc <- if (method == "renv") renv::paths$library() else NULL
+    .ps.pkg_list_installed(lib.loc = lib.loc)
 }