diff --git a/bld/get-version b/bld/get-version
index 7ab75db..5372869 100755
--- a/bld/get-version
+++ b/bld/get-version
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@
 # If there is more than one v[0-9].* tag, sort them and use the
 # first. This favours, eg v2.63 over 2.63rc6.
 
-if which git >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -d $1/.git ]; then
-     cd $1; git describe | sed 's/^v//'
+if which git >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
+    ([ -d $1/.git ] || grep '^gitdir:' $1/.git >/dev/null 2>&1); then 
+    cd $1; git describe | sed 's/^v//'
 elif grep '\$Format:%d\$' $1/VERSION >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 # unsubstituted VERSION, but no git available.
     echo UNKNOWN