diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.cpp b/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.cpp
index a2e36254c..429566ef2 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.cpp
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.cpp
@@ -812,6 +812,18 @@ bool RichResourceTextMouseEvent(const QWidget *owner, const QVariant &var, QRect
   return false;
 }
 
+QString RichResourceTextFormat(ICaptureContext &ctx, QVariant var)
+{
+  RichResourceTextInitialise(var);
+  if(var.userType() == qMetaTypeId<ResourceId>())
+    return GetTruncatedResourceName(ctx, var.value<ResourceId>());
+
+  // either it's something else and wasn't rich resource, in which case just return the string
+  // representation, or it's a fully formatted rich resource document, where the cached text will do
+  // the trick with ResIdTextToString.
+  return var.toString();
+}
+
 RichTextViewDelegate::RichTextViewDelegate(QAbstractItemView *parent)
     : m_widget(parent), ForwardingDelegate(parent)
 {
diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.h b/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.h
index 5ebe34eb4..0e1847cf3 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.h
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Code/QRDUtils.h
@@ -204,6 +204,10 @@ int RichResourceTextWidthHint(const QWidget *owner, const QFont &font, const QVa
 bool RichResourceTextMouseEvent(const QWidget *owner, const QVariant &var, QRect rect,
                                 const QFont &font, QMouseEvent *event);
 
+// immediately format a variant that may contain rich resource text. For use in places where we
+// can't paint rich resource text but we still want to display the string nicely
+QString RichResourceTextFormat(ICaptureContext &ctx, QVariant var);
+
 // Register runtime conversions for custom Qt metatypes
 void RegisterMetatypeConversions();
 
diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Windows/ShaderViewer.cpp b/qrenderdoc/Windows/ShaderViewer.cpp
index 05278df3c..c16435f3b 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Windows/ShaderViewer.cpp
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Windows/ShaderViewer.cpp
@@ -3902,11 +3902,21 @@ void ShaderViewer::updateVariableTooltip()
 
   if(var.type != VarType::Unknown)
   {
-    QString tooltip = QFormatStr("<pre>%1: %2\n").arg(var.name).arg(RowString(var, 0));
-    QString spacing = QString(var.name.count(), QLatin1Char(' '));
-    for(int i = 1; i < var.rows; i++)
-      tooltip += QFormatStr("%1  %2\n").arg(spacing).arg(RowString(var, i));
-    tooltip += lit("</pre>");
+    QString tooltip;
+
+    if(var.type == VarType::ReadOnlyResource || var.type == VarType::ReadWriteResource)
+    {
+      tooltip = RichResourceTextFormat(m_Ctx, stringRep(var, 0));
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      tooltip = QFormatStr("<pre>%1: %2\n").arg(var.name).arg(RowString(var, 0));
+      QString spacing = QString(var.name.count(), QLatin1Char(' '));
+      for(int i = 1; i < var.rows; i++)
+        tooltip += QFormatStr("%1  %2\n").arg(spacing).arg(RowString(var, i));
+      tooltip += lit("</pre>");
+    }
+
     QToolTip::showText(m_TooltipPos, tooltip);
     return;
   }