diff --git a/app/helpers/icons_helper.rb b/app/helpers/icons_helper.rb
index 1cf5b96481a952ba4d35108bd4c5ac8a2b66f0a5..5724d3aabecd861796d0d81a164822f79cddd8af 100644
--- a/app/helpers/icons_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/icons_helper.rb
@@ -27,16 +27,20 @@ module IconsHelper
     end
   end
 
-  def public_icon
-    icon('globe fw')
-  end
-
-  def internal_icon
-    icon('shield fw')
-  end
+  def visibility_level_icon(level, fw: true)
+    name =
+      case level
+      when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PRIVATE
+        'lock'
+      when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL
+        'shield'
+      else # Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PUBLIC
+        'globe'
+      end
+      
+    name << " fw" if fw
 
-  def private_icon
-    icon('lock fw')
+    icon(name)
   end
 
   def file_type_icon_class(type, mode, name)
diff --git a/app/helpers/visibility_level_helper.rb b/app/helpers/visibility_level_helper.rb
index b52cd23aba22e378ad114ce8e8ed690d7f4d194f..72c65030f944755de07195516372187d270414c6 100644
--- a/app/helpers/visibility_level_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/visibility_level_helper.rb
@@ -25,48 +25,24 @@ module VisibilityLevelHelper
   end
 
   def project_visibility_level_description(level)
-    capture_haml do
-      haml_tag :span do
-        case level
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PRIVATE
-          haml_concat "Project access must be granted explicitly for each user."
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL
-          haml_concat "The project can be cloned by"
-          haml_concat "any logged in user."
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PUBLIC
-          haml_concat "The project can be cloned"
-          haml_concat "without any"
-          haml_concat "authentication."
-        end
-      end
+    case level
+    when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PRIVATE
+      "Project access must be granted explicitly for each user."
+    when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL
+      "The project can be cloned by any logged in user."
+    when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PUBLIC
+      "The project can be cloned without any authentication."
     end
   end
 
   def snippet_visibility_level_description(level)
-    capture_haml do
-      haml_tag :span do
-        case level
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PRIVATE
-          haml_concat "The snippet is visible only for me."
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL
-          haml_concat "The snippet is visible for any logged in user."
-        when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PUBLIC
-          haml_concat "The snippet can be accessed"
-          haml_concat "without any"
-          haml_concat "authentication."
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  def visibility_level_icon(level)
     case level
     when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PRIVATE
-      private_icon
+      "The snippet is visible only for me."
     when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL
-      internal_icon
+      "The snippet is visible for any logged in user."
     when Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::PUBLIC
-      public_icon
+      "The snippet can be accessed without any authentication."
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/views/projects/_home_panel.html.haml b/app/views/projects/_home_panel.html.haml
index 695da7f07d12c2b030f1848fdd50f9e22b89cda5..c1669ac046b4207ae92914d078b0871e8e8bec0b 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/_home_panel.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/_home_panel.html.haml
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@
         Forked from
         = link_to project_path(forked_from_project) do
           = forked_from_project.namespace.try(:name)
-    .visibility-level-label
-      = visibility_level_icon(@project.visibility_level)
   .cover-controls.left
+    .visibility-level-label.has_tooltip{title: project_visibility_level_description(@project.visibility_level), data: { container: 'body' } }
+      = visibility_level_icon(@project.visibility_level, fw: false)
       = visibility_level_label(@project.visibility_level)
 
   .cover-controls
diff --git a/app/views/shared/snippets/_header.html.haml b/app/views/shared/snippets/_header.html.haml
index 0a4a790ec5ee182b5ad0e5a62178dd0636246e45..b6c9872f08394f5d1cf61a5450b2452095bfa9eb 100644
--- a/app/views/shared/snippets/_header.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/shared/snippets/_header.html.haml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .snippet-details
   .page-title
-    .snippet-box{class: visibility_level_color(@snippet.visibility_level)}
-      = visibility_level_icon(@snippet.visibility_level)
+    .snippet-box.has_tooltip{class: visibility_level_color(@snippet.visibility_level), title: snippet_visibility_level_description(@snippet.visibility_level), data: { container: 'body' }}
+      = visibility_level_icon(@snippet.visibility_level, fw: false)
       = visibility_level_label(@snippet.visibility_level)
     %span.snippet-id Snippet ##{@snippet.id}
     %span.creator