diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index dba2617a8..7eac1a986 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ endif
 version_tag.h version:
 	@if $(GIT_PRESENT) && test -d $(srcdir)/.git; then \
 	    echo "Using git-describe for VERSION_TAG"; \
-	    tmp=`$(GIT) --git-dir $(srcdir)/.git describe \
+	    tmp=`$(GIT) --git-dir $(srcdir)/.git describe --always --dirty \
 		   | sed -e 's;\(.*\);#define VERSION_TAG "\1";'`; \
 	    echo "$$tmp" | diff - version_tag.h > /dev/null 2>&1 || echo "$$tmp" > version_tag.h || exit 1; \
 	elif test -r $(srcdir)/version_tag.h; then \