diff --git a/src/versioningit/git.py b/src/versioningit/git.py
index 13efca5..125396a 100644
--- a/src/versioningit/git.py
+++ b/src/versioningit/git.py
@@ -129,6 +129,11 @@ def as_args(self) -> list[str]:
             args.append(f"--exclude={pat}")
         return args
 
+    def as_cmdline_str(self) -> str:
+        return "git describe --long --dirty --always" + "".join(
+            " " + shlex.quote(a) for a in self.as_args()
+        )
+
 
 @dataclass
 class GitRepo:
@@ -195,7 +200,9 @@ def describe(self, opts: DescribeOpts) -> str:
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
             # As far as I'm aware, this only happens in a repo without any
             # commits or a corrupted repo.
-            raise NoTagError(f"`git describe` command failed: {e.stderr.strip()}")
+            raise NoTagError(
+                f"`{opts.as_cmdline_str()}` command failed: {e.stderr.strip()}"
+            )
 
     def get_branch(self) -> Optional[str]:
         """
@@ -339,16 +346,16 @@ def describe_git_core(
     except ValueError:
         if default_tag is not None:
             log.info(
-                "`git describe` returned a hash instead of a tag; falling back to"
-                " default tag %r",
+                "`%s` returned a hash instead of a tag; falling back to default"
+                " tag %r",
+                opts.as_cmdline_str(),
                 default_tag,
             )
             tag = default_tag
             distance = int(repo.read("rev-list", "--count", "HEAD")) - 1
             rev = description
         else:
-            argstr = "".join(" " + shlex.quote(a) for a in opts.as_args())
-            raise NoTagError(f"`git describe{argstr}` could not find a tag")
+            raise NoTagError(f"`{opts.as_cmdline_str()}` could not find a tag")
     if distance and dirty:
         state = "distance-dirty"
     elif distance:
diff --git a/test/data/repos/errors/hatch-no-tag.json b/test/data/repos/errors/hatch-no-tag.json
index db9361b..8cb1d08 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/errors/hatch-no-tag.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/errors/hatch-no-tag.json
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {
     "type": "NoTagError",
-    "message": "`git describe --tags '--exclude=*'` could not find a tag"
+    "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags '--exclude=*'` could not find a tag"
 }
diff --git a/test/data/repos/errors/no-tag.json b/test/data/repos/errors/no-tag.json
index db9361b..8cb1d08 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/errors/no-tag.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/errors/no-tag.json
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {
     "type": "NoTagError",
-    "message": "`git describe --tags '--exclude=*'` could not find a tag"
+    "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags '--exclude=*'` could not find a tag"
 }
diff --git a/test/data/repos/git/added-no-commits-default-tag.json b/test/data/repos/git/added-no-commits-default-tag.json
index 780dea1..2bfffba 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/git/added-no-commits-default-tag.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/git/added-no-commits-default-tag.json
@@ -1,4 +1,14 @@
 {
     "version": "0.0.0+d20380119",
-    "next_version": "0.1.0"
+    "next_version": "0.1.0",
+    "logmsgs": [
+        {
+            "level": "ERROR",
+            "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` command failed: fatal: bad revision 'HEAD'"
+        },
+        {
+            "level": "INFO",
+            "message": "Falling back to default tag 'v0.0.0'"
+        }
+    ]
 }
diff --git a/test/data/repos/git/default-tag.json b/test/data/repos/git/default-tag.json
index 7a15df2..2f694bb 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/git/default-tag.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/git/default-tag.json
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 {
     "version": "0.0.0.post2+gb4461bd",
-    "next_version": "0.1.0"
+    "next_version": "0.1.0",
+    "logmsgs": [
+        {
+            "level": "INFO",
+            "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` returned a hash instead of a tag; falling back to default tag 'v0.0.0'"
+        }
+    ]
 }
diff --git a/test/data/repos/git/default-version-bad.json b/test/data/repos/git/default-version-bad.json
index 66d81b8..9c3299a 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/git/default-version-bad.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/git/default-version-bad.json
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
     "version": "1.1.1m",
     "next_version": {
         "type": "NoTagError",
-        "message": "`git describe` could not find a tag"
+        "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` could not find a tag"
     },
     "logmsgs": [
         {
             "level": "ERROR",
-            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe` could not find a tag"
+            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` could not find a tag"
         },
         {
             "level": "INFO",
diff --git a/test/data/repos/git/default-version-onbuild-write.json b/test/data/repos/git/default-version-onbuild-write.json
index 5be8d9f..f79911b 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/git/default-version-onbuild-write.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/git/default-version-onbuild-write.json
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
     "version": "0.0.0+error",
     "next_version": {
         "type": "NoTagError",
-        "message": "`git describe --tags '--match=v*'` could not find a tag"
+        "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags '--match=v*'` could not find a tag"
     },
     "logmsgs": [
         {
             "level": "ERROR",
-            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe --tags '--match=v*'` could not find a tag"
+            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe --long --dirty --always --tags '--match=v*'` could not find a tag"
         },
         {
             "level": "INFO",
diff --git a/test/data/repos/git/default-version.json b/test/data/repos/git/default-version.json
index b3e5864..26ee5e8 100644
--- a/test/data/repos/git/default-version.json
+++ b/test/data/repos/git/default-version.json
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
     "version": "0.0.0+error",
     "next_version": {
         "type": "NoTagError",
-        "message": "`git describe --tags` could not find a tag"
+        "message": "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` could not find a tag"
     },
     "logmsgs": [
         {
             "level": "ERROR",
-            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe --tags` could not find a tag"
+            "message": "NoTagError: `git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` could not find a tag"
         },
         {
             "level": "INFO",
diff --git a/test/test_methods/test_git.py b/test/test_methods/test_git.py
index 13d60d9..cb7a422 100644
--- a/test/test_methods/test_git.py
+++ b/test/test_methods/test_git.py
@@ -81,7 +81,10 @@ def test_describe_git_no_tag(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     shutil.unpack_archive(DATA_DIR / "repos" / "git" / "default-tag.zip", tmp_path)
     with pytest.raises(NoTagError) as excinfo:
         describe_git(project_dir=tmp_path, params={})
-    assert str(excinfo.value) == "`git describe --tags` could not find a tag"
+    assert (
+        str(excinfo.value)
+        == "`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` could not find a tag"
+    )
 
 
 @needs_git
@@ -105,7 +108,10 @@ def test_describe_git_added_no_commits(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     shutil.unpack_archive(
         DATA_DIR / "repos" / "git" / "added-no-commits-default-tag.zip", tmp_path
     )
-    with pytest.raises(NoTagError, match=r"^`git describe` command failed: "):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        NoTagError,
+        match=r"^`git describe --long --dirty --always --tags` command failed: ",
+    ):
         describe_git(project_dir=tmp_path, params={})
 
 
@@ -226,7 +232,7 @@ def test_describe_git_archive_added_no_commits_default_tag(
     assert any(
         logger == "versioningit"
         and level == logging.ERROR
-        and re.match("^`git describe` command failed: ", msg)
+        and re.match("^`git describe --long --dirty --always` command failed: ", msg)
         for logger, level, msg in caplog.record_tuples
     )
     assert (
@@ -244,7 +250,10 @@ def test_describe_git_archive_lightweight_only(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
             project_dir=tmp_path,
             params={"describe-subst": "$Format:%(describe)$"},
         )
-    assert str(excinfo.value) == "`git describe` could not find a tag"
+    assert (
+        str(excinfo.value)
+        == "`git describe --long --dirty --always` could not find a tag"
+    )
 
 
 @needs_git
@@ -274,8 +283,8 @@ def test_describe_git_archive_lightweight_only_default_tag(
     assert (
         "versioningit",
         logging.INFO,
-        "`git describe` returned a hash instead of a tag; falling back to"
-        " default tag '0.0.0'",
+        "`git describe --long --dirty --always` returned a hash instead of a"
+        " tag; falling back to default tag '0.0.0'",
     ) in caplog.record_tuples