diff --git a/Lib/argparse.py b/Lib/argparse.py
index f86658baf7f2bac..c16f538ae1535a1 100644
--- a/Lib/argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/argparse.py
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ def _get_help_string(self, action):
             if action.default is not SUPPRESS:
                 defaulting_nargs = [OPTIONAL, ZERO_OR_MORE]
                 if action.option_strings or action.nargs in defaulting_nargs:
-                    help += ' (default: %(default)s)'
+                    help += _(' (default: %(default)s)')
         return help
 
 
@@ -1159,8 +1159,10 @@ def __init__(self,
                  version=None,
                  dest=SUPPRESS,
                  default=SUPPRESS,
-                 help="show program's version number and exit",
+                 help=None,
                  deprecated=False):
+        if help is None:
+            help = _("show program's version number and exit")
         super(_VersionAction, self).__init__(
             option_strings=option_strings,
             dest=dest,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-04-06-23-50-59.bpo-33775.0yhMDc.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-04-06-23-50-59.bpo-33775.0yhMDc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..2a663ac7940dcb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-04-06-23-50-59.bpo-33775.0yhMDc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add 'default' and 'version' help text for localization in argparse.