diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e0bbb6a908..45030d29b0 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1994,14 +1994,11 @@ endif
 conf.set_quoted('VERSION_TAG', version_tag)
 
 vcs_tag = get_option('vcs-tag')
-command = ['sh', '-c',
-           vcs_tag and fs.exists(project_source_root / '.git') ?
-                   'echo "-g$(git -C . describe --abbrev=7 --match="" --always --dirty=^)"' : ':']
 version_h = vcs_tag(
         input : 'src/version/version.h.in',
         output : 'version.h',
         fallback : '',
-        command : command,
+        command : [vcs_tag ? 'tools/vcs-tag.sh' : 'true', get_option('mode')],
 )
 
 shared_lib_tag = get_option('shared-lib-tag')
diff --git a/tools/vcs-tag.sh b/tools/vcs-tag.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5da39cc539
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vcs-tag.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
+set -e
+
+MODE="$1"
+
+if ! [[ -d .git ]] || git describe --tags --exact-match &>/dev/null; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if [[ "$MODE" == "developer" ]]; then
+    DIRTY="--dirty=^"
+else
+    DIRTY=""
+fi
+
+echo "-g$(git describe --abbrev=7 --match="" --always $DIRTY)"