diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
index 0f1b2233d..9cb770710 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
@@ -148,13 +148,18 @@ def _git_str_subprocess(gitpath):
     if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(gitpath, ".git")):
         return None
     try:
-        cid = subprocess.check_output(
-            ['git', 'describe', '--tags', '--dirty', '--always'],
+        commit_hash = subprocess.check_output(
+            ['git',
+             'describe',
+             '--match=NeVeRmAtCh',
+             '--always',
+             '--abbrev=40',
+             '--dirty'],
             cwd=gitpath).decode('UTF-8').strip()
         date = subprocess.check_output(
             ['git', 'show', '-s', '--format=%ci', 'HEAD'],
             cwd=gitpath).decode('UTF-8').strip()
-        return '{} ({})'.format(cid, date)
+        return '{} ({})'.format(commit_hash, date)
     except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError):
         return None
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py b/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
index 489806f8c..cfd8c06a6 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
@@ -356,7 +356,9 @@ class TestGitStrSubprocess:
     def test_real_git(self, git_repo):
         """Test with a real git repository."""
         ret = version._git_str_subprocess(str(git_repo))
-        assert ret == 'foobar (1970-01-01 01:00:00 +0100)'
+        assert ret == \
+            '6e4b65a529c0ab78fb370c1527d5809f7436b8f3 ' \
+            + '(1970-01-01 01:00:00 +0100)'
 
     def test_missing_dir(self, tmpdir):
         """Test with a directory which doesn't exist."""