diff --git a/make/project.mk b/make/project.mk
index e1a23e96e9..f5ae796f05 100644
--- a/make/project.mk
+++ b/make/project.mk
@@ -186,8 +186,7 @@ endif
 	@echo $(ESPTOOLPY_WRITE_FLASH) $(ESPTOOL_ALL_FLASH_ARGS)
 
 
-# Git version of ESP-IDF (of the form v1.0-285-g5c4f707)
-IDF_VER := $(shell git -C $(IDF_PATH) describe)
+IDF_VER := $(shell git -C $(IDF_PATH) describe --always --tags --dirty)
 
 # Set default LDFLAGS