diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 276dd8a97d..cad414443d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ endif
 
 COMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD || echo unknown)
 DATE := $(shell git log -1 --pretty=format:'%ad' --date short)
-VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --match 'v*' | sed -e 's/^v//; s/-g[0-9a-f]\+$$//; s/-\([0-9]\+\)$$/-dev\1/')
+VERSION := $(shell (git describe --tags --match 'v*' 2>/dev/null || echo "v0.0.0-dev0") | sed -e 's/^v//; s/-g[0-9a-f]\+$$//; s/-\([0-9]\+\)$$/-dev\1/')
 LDFLAGS= "-X github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/pkg/versions.buildVersion=${VERSION} $\
 -X github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/pkg/versions.buildCommit=${COMMIT} $\
 -X github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/pkg/versions.buildDate=${DATE}"