diff --git a/hack/build-go.sh b/hack/build-go.sh
index 0ef121f04ea..24707a7b4c5 100755
--- a/hack/build-go.sh
+++ b/hack/build-go.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ cd "${KUBE_REPO_ROOT}"
 kube::setup_go_environment
 
 # Fetch the version.
-version=$(gitcommit)
+version_ldflags=$(kube::version_ldflags)
 
 if [[ $# == 0 ]]; then
   # Update $@ with the default list of targets to build.
@@ -48,4 +48,4 @@ done
 # our cluster deploy.  If we add more command line options to our standard build
 # we'll want to duplicate them there.  As we move to distributing pre- built
 # binaries we can eliminate this duplication.
-go install -ldflags "-X github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version.gitCommit '${version}'" "${binaries[@]}"
+go install -ldflags "${version_ldflags}" "${binaries[@]}"
diff --git a/hack/config-go.sh b/hack/config-go.sh
index 5e990e981d3..6bb6037c681 100644
--- a/hack/config-go.sh
+++ b/hack/config-go.sh
@@ -17,27 +17,43 @@
 # This script sets up a go workspace locally and builds all go components.
 # You can 'source' this file if you want to set up GOPATH in your local shell.
 
-# gitcommit prints the current Git commit information
-function gitcommit() {
-  set -o errexit
-  set -o nounset
-  set -o pipefail
+# --- Helper Functions ---
 
-  topdir=$(dirname "$0")/..
-  cd "${topdir}"
+# Function kube::version_ldflags() prints the value that needs to be passed to
+# the -ldflags parameter of go build in order to set the Kubernetes based on the
+# git tree status.
+kube::version_ldflags() {
+  (
+    # Run this in a subshell to prevent settings/variables from leaking.
+    set -o errexit
+    set -o nounset
+    set -o pipefail
 
-  # TODO: when we start making tags, switch to git describe?
-  if git_commit=$(git rev-parse --short "HEAD^{commit}" 2>/dev/null); then
-    # Check if the tree is dirty.
-    if ! dirty_tree=$(git status --porcelain) || [[ -n "${dirty_tree}" ]]; then
-      echo "${git_commit}-dirty"
-    else
-      echo "${git_commit}"
+    unset CDPATH
+
+    cd "${KUBE_REPO_ROOT}"
+
+    declare -a ldflags=()
+    if git_commit=$(git rev-parse "HEAD^{commit}" 2>/dev/null); then
+      ldflags+=(-X "${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/pkg/version.gitCommit" "${git_commit}")
+
+      # Check if the tree is dirty.
+      if git_status=$(git status --porcelain) && [[ -z "${git_status}" ]]; then
+        git_tree_state="clean"
+      else
+        git_tree_state="dirty"
+      fi
+      ldflags+=(-X "${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/pkg/version.gitTreeState" "${git_tree_state}")
+
+      # Use git describe to find the version based on annotated tags.
+      if git_version=$(git describe --abbrev=14 "${git_commit}^{commit}" 2>/dev/null); then
+        ldflags+=(-X "${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/pkg/version.gitVersion" "${git_version}")
+      fi
     fi
-  else
-    echo "(none)"
-  fi
-  return 0
+
+    # The -ldflags parameter takes a single string, so join the output.
+    echo "${ldflags[*]}"
+  )
 }
 
 # kube::setup_go_environment will check that `go` and `godep` commands are
diff --git a/release/build-release.sh b/release/build-release.sh
index 71c87b892b9..57a562f1d9e 100755
--- a/release/build-release.sh
+++ b/release/build-release.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ INSTANCE_PREFIX=$1
 
 KUBE_DIR=$SCRIPT_DIR/..
 
+. "${KUBE_DIR}/hack/config-go.sh"
+
 # Next build the release tar.  This gets copied on to the master and installed
 # from there.  It includes the go source for the necessary servers along with
 # the salt configs.
@@ -41,15 +43,11 @@ cp -r $KUBE_DIR/cluster/saltbase $MASTER_RELEASE_DIR/src/saltbase
 
 # Capture the same version we are using to build the client tools and pass that
 # on.
-version=$(
-  unset IFS
-  source $KUBE_DIR/hack/config-go.sh
-  gitcommit
-)
+version_ldflags=$(kube::version_ldflags)
 
 cat << EOF > $MASTER_RELEASE_DIR/src/saltbase/pillar/common.sls
 instance_prefix: $INSTANCE_PREFIX-minion
-go_opt: -ldflags "-X github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version.gitCommit '$version'"
+go_opt: -ldflags '${version_ldflags}'
 EOF
 
 function find_go_files() {