diff --git a/extras/makedeb.py b/extras/makedeb.py
index ca1b69470..63410b2df 100644
--- a/extras/makedeb.py
+++ b/extras/makedeb.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def build(suffix):
         with open(ifn, 'w') as of:
             of.write(s)
 
-    env={'SCRAPY_VERSION_FROM_HG': '1'}
+    env={'SCRAPY_VERSION_FROM_GIT': '1'}
     check_call('debchange -m -D unstable --force-distribution -v $(python setup.py --version)+$(date +%s) "Automatic build"', \
         shell=True, env=env)
     check_call('debuild -us -uc -b', shell=True)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a2ac7cc28..2072b37df 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ if os.environ.get('SCRAPY_VERSION_FROM_HG'):
     rev = Popen(["hg", "tip", "--template", "{rev}"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
     with open('scrapy/__init__.py', 'a') as f:
         f.write("\n__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, version_info)) + '.%s'" % rev)
+elif os.environ.get('SCRAPY_VERSION_FROM_GIT'):
+    rev = Popen("git log --oneline | wc -l", shell=True, stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+    with open('scrapy/__init__.py', 'a') as f:
+        f.write("\n__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, version_info)) + '.%s'" % rev.strip())
 version = __import__('scrapy').__version__
 
 setup_args = {