diff --git a/build_tools/git_version_gen.sh b/build_tools/git_version_gen.sh
index 3ffd0eb2a..a2c337be9 100755
--- a/build_tools/git_version_gen.sh
+++ b/build_tools/git_version_gen.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ then
 	VN=$(cat version) || VN="$DEF_VER"
 elif test -d .git -o -f .git && type git >/dev/null
 then
-	VN=$(git describe --tags --dirty 2>/dev/null)
+	VN=$(git describe --dirty 2>/dev/null)
 else
 	VN="$DEF_VER"
 fi
diff --git a/build_tools/make_tarball.sh b/build_tools/make_tarball.sh
index f16171d14..a044d2f25 100755
--- a/build_tools/make_tarball.sh
+++ b/build_tools/make_tarball.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ wd="$PWD"
 prefix="fish"
 
 # Get the version from git-describe
-VERSION=`git describe --tags --dirty 2>/dev/null`
+VERSION=`git describe --dirty 2>/dev/null`
 prefix="$prefix-$VERSION"
 
 # The path where we will output the tar file