diff --git a/scripts/setlocalversion b/scripts/setlocalversion
index a2998b118ef9..45609dba7d72 100755
--- a/scripts/setlocalversion
+++ b/scripts/setlocalversion
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ scm_version()
 
 	# Check for git and a git repo.
 	if test -z "$(git rev-parse --show-cdup 2>/dev/null)" &&
-	   head=`git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD 2>/dev/null`; then
+	   head=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD 2>/dev/null); then
 
 		# If we are at a tagged commit (like "v2.6.30-rc6"), we ignore
 		# it, because this version is defined in the top level Makefile.
@@ -59,11 +59,22 @@ scm_version()
 			fi
 			# If we are past a tagged commit (like
 			# "v2.6.30-rc5-302-g72357d5"), we pretty print it.
-			if atag="`git describe 2>/dev/null`"; then
-				echo "$atag" | awk -F- '{printf("-%05d-%s", $(NF-1),$(NF))}'
+			#
+			# Ensure the abbreviated sha1 has exactly 12
+			# hex characters, to make the output
+			# independent of git version, local
+			# core.abbrev settings and/or total number of
+			# objects in the current repository - passing
+			# --abbrev=12 ensures a minimum of 12, and the
+			# awk substr() then picks the 'g' and first 12
+			# hex chars.
+			if atag="$(git describe --abbrev=12 2>/dev/null)"; then
+				echo "$atag" | awk -F- '{printf("-%05d-%s", $(NF-1),substr($(NF),0,13))}'
 
-			# If we don't have a tag at all we print -g{commitish}.
+			# If we don't have a tag at all we print -g{commitish},
+			# again using exactly 12 hex chars.
 			else
+				head="$(echo $head | cut -c1-12)"
 				printf '%s%s' -g $head
 			fi
 		fi