diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/assign_DISTNAME b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/assign_DISTNAME
index a1ab3f7cbd..a2ca768aaa 100755
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/assign_DISTNAME
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/assign_DISTNAME
@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@
 if RECENT_TAG="$(git describe --exact-match HEAD)"; then
     VERSION="${RECENT_TAG#v}"
 else
-    VERSION="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+    VERSION="$(git rev-parse --short=12 HEAD)"
 fi
 DISTNAME="bitcoin-${VERSION}"