diff --git a/scripts/version.sh b/scripts/version.sh
index 9a965dc..f3948bc 100755
--- a/scripts/version.sh
+++ b/scripts/version.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@ GIT_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/../.git"
 
 if test -d "${GIT_DIR}" ; then
 	if type git >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
-		git describe --match '[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*' 2>/dev/null \
-			| sed -e 's/-/-git-/'
+		gitstr=$(git describe --match '[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*' 2>/dev/null)
+		if test "x$?" != x0 ; then
+			sed 's/$/-git/' < VERSION
+		else
+			printf "%s\n" "$gitstr" | sed -e 's/-/-git-/'
+		fi
 	else
 		sed 's/$/-git/' < VERSION
 	fi