diff --git a/gitstatus_pre-1.7.10.sh b/gitstatus_pre-1.7.10.sh
index 9d5a471..a7a352f 100755
--- a/gitstatus_pre-1.7.10.sh
+++ b/gitstatus_pre-1.7.10.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ remote=
 upstream=
 
 if [[ -z "$branch" ]]; then
-  tag=$( git describe --branch --exact-match 2>/dev/null )
+  tag=$( git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null )
   if [[ -n "$tag" ]]; then
     branch="$tag"
   else