diff --git a/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py b/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
index 93fefa9d4..52f48f6b7 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
@@ -19,7 +19,21 @@ def dump_system_info():
         try:
             c = ['git', 'describe', '--tags', '--long']
             git_describe = subprocess.check_output(c, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
-            git_describe = git_describe.decode().strip()
+            last_tag, tag_dist, commit = git_describe.decode().strip().rsplit("-", 2)
+
+            if last_tag.startswith('v'):
+                # remove the 'v' prefix
+                last_tag = last_tag[1:]
+            if commit.startswith('g'):
+                # remove the 'g' prefix added by recent git versions
+                commit = commit[1:]
+
+            # build the same version specifier as used for snapshots by rtool
+            git_describe = "{version}dev{tag:04}-0x{commit}".format(
+                version=last_tag,
+                tag=int(tag_dist),
+                commit=commit,
+            )
         except:
             pass
 
diff --git a/release/rtool.py b/release/rtool.py
index 59899510f..271392baa 100755
--- a/release/rtool.py
+++ b/release/rtool.py
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ def get_snapshot_version() -> str:
     if tag_dist == 0:
         return get_version()
     else:
+        # remove the 'g' prefix added by recent git versions
+        if commit.startswith('g'):
+            commit = commit[1:]
+
         # The wheel build tag (we use the commit) must start with a digit, so we include "0x"
         return "{version}dev{tag_dist:04}-0x{commit}".format(
             version=get_version(),  # this should already be the next version