diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 4d4df43..0bb6baa 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ BUILD_SEED_DIFFERENTIATION=0
 
 VERSION="v0.3.0-dev"
 
-COMMIT=$(shell git log --pretty=format:'%H' -1 |cat)
+# TODO: handle case where the source code is not part of a git repository
+COMMIT=$(shell if which git >/dev/null 2>/dev/null ;then git log --pretty=format:'%H' -1 |cat ;else echo git-not-installed; fi)
 
 ifeq "${QUIET}" "1"
        QUIET_AS		= @echo   '  AS         '$@;