It seems "git describe" is not matching "git log" as detailed in the help, in some cases. From git describe --help [torvalds@g5 git]$ git describe parent v1.0.4-14-g2414721 The number of additional commits is the number of commits which would be displayed by "git log v1.0.4..parent". GOOD $ git clone git://github.com/antirez/redis.git $ cd redis $ git describe unstable with-deprecated-diskstore-1050-g7383c3b $ git log --oneline with-deprecated-diskstore..unstable | wc 1050 11779 78709 BAD $ git clone git://github.com/git/git.git $ cd git $ git describe master v1.8.0.1-264-g226dcb5 $ git log --oneline v1.8.0.1..master | wc 260 1650 14154 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html