diff --git a/scripts/setlocalversion b/scripts/setlocalversion
index 453faffe18a7..72d233528ade 100755
--- a/scripts/setlocalversion
+++ b/scripts/setlocalversion
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ usage() {
 cd "${1:-.}" || usage
 
 # Check for git and a git repo.
-if head=`git rev-parse --verify HEAD 2>/dev/null`; then
+if head=`git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD 2>/dev/null`; then
 	# Do we have an untagged version?
 	if git name-rev --tags HEAD | grep -E '^HEAD[[:space:]]+(.*~[0-9]*|undefined)$' > /dev/null; then
 		if tag=`git describe 2>/dev/null`; then
 			echo $tag | awk -F- '{printf("-%05d-%s", $(NF-1),$(NF))}'
+		else
+			printf '%s%s' -g $head
 		fi
 	fi