diff --git a/version/describe.txt.do b/version/describe.txt.do
index 6cf494de6..0df15345f 100644
--- a/version/describe.txt.do
+++ b/version/describe.txt.do
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-describe=$(cd ../.. && git describe --long)
+describe=$(cd ../.. && git describe --long --abbrev=9)
 echo "$describe" >$3
 redo-always
 redo-stamp <$3