diff --git a/util/release/build-release b/util/release/build-release
index d4a9a1f5b8..b76b1559a3 100755
--- a/util/release/build-release
+++ b/util/release/build-release
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ else
 	git tag -a --force "$VERSION_NAME" -m "coreboot version $VERSION_NAME"
 fi
 
-printf "%s-%s\n" "$VERSION_NAME"  "$(git log --pretty=%h|head -1)" > .coreboot-version
+printf "%s-%s\n" "$VERSION_NAME"  "$(git log --pretty=%h -1)" > .coreboot-version
 tstamp=$(git log --pretty=format:%ci -1)
 cd ..