diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c7d07583..bd09527d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -114,7 +114,10 @@ if(GIT_FOUND AND EXISTS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/.git")
     get_git_head_revision(REFSPEC COMMITHASH)
 else()
     message(WARNING "Git not found, cannot set version info")
+endif()
 
+# no git or no tags
+if(NOT VERSION)
     set(VERSION  2.0.0)
     set(REVISION "unknown")
     set(VERSION_RELEASE 0)
diff --git a/cmake/GitTagVersion.cmake b/cmake/GitTagVersion.cmake
index ca484a96..b46e98e3 100644
--- a/cmake/GitTagVersion.cmake
+++ b/cmake/GitTagVersion.cmake
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ function(git_version version revision version_release)
         # get latest version from tag history
         execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} tag --sort=-creatordate OUTPUT_VARIABLE sorted_tags OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
 
+        # if no tags (e.g. shallow clone) do nothing
+        if(NOT sorted_tags)
+            return()
+        endif()
+
         # convert to list (see: https://public.kitware.com/pipermail/cmake/2007-May/014222.html)
         string(REGEX REPLACE ";"  "\\\\;" sorted_tags "${sorted_tags}")
         string(REGEX REPLACE "\n" ";"     sorted_tags "${sorted_tags}")
@@ -29,6 +34,11 @@ function(git_version version revision version_release)
         # get the current revision
         execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} tag "--format=%(align:width=20)%(refname:short)%(end)%(if)%(*objectname)%(then)%(*objectname)%(else)%(objectname)%(end)" --sort=-creatordate OUTPUT_VARIABLE sorted_tags_refs OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
 
+        # if no tags (e.g. shallow clone) do nothing
+        if(NOT sorted_tags_refs)
+            return()
+        endif()
+
         # convert to list (see: https://public.kitware.com/pipermail/cmake/2007-May/014222.html)
         string(REGEX REPLACE ";"  "\\\\;" sorted_tags_refs "${sorted_tags_refs}")
         string(REGEX REPLACE "\n" ";"     sorted_tags_refs "${sorted_tags_refs}")