diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index d0b226176..c1106e064 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 m4_define([v_maj], [0])
 m4_define([v_min], [17])
 m4_define([v_mic], [99])
-m4_define([v_rev], m4_esyscmd([git rev-list --count HEAD | tr -d '\n']))dnl
+m4_define([v_rev], m4_esyscmd([(git rev-list --count HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo 0) | tr -d '\n']))dnl
 ##--   When released, remove the dnl on the below line
 dnl m4_undefine([v_rev])
 m4_define([relname], [0.17.99])