diff --git a/hack/lib/version.sh b/hack/lib/version.sh
index e11e86c970..f3c5289f9e 100644
--- a/hack/lib/version.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/version.sh
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ kube::version::get_version_vars() {
     fi
 
     # Use git describe to find the version based on annotated tags.
-    if [[ -n ${KUBE_GIT_VERSION-} ]] || KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$("${git[@]}" describe --abbrev=14 "${KUBE_GIT_COMMIT}^{commit}" 2>/dev/null); then
+    if [[ -n ${KUBE_GIT_VERSION-} ]] || KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$("${git[@]}" describe --tags --abbrev=14 "${KUBE_GIT_COMMIT}^{commit}" 2>/dev/null); then
       if [[ "${KUBE_GIT_TREE_STATE}" == "dirty" ]]; then
         # git describe --dirty only considers changes to existing files, but
         # that is problematic since new untracked .go files affect the build,