diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8f6c0b72..94eeb674 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -165,7 +165,10 @@ release:
 	@echo "        * ..."
 	@echo
 	@echo -n "        Contributions from: "
-	@echo `git log --format='%an, ' v$(VERSION)..HEAD | sort -u | tr -d '\n' | sed 's/, $$//'`
+	# We omit the contributor list if `git log` fails. If you hit this,
+	# consider fetching missing tags via `git fetch --tags`, or just copy
+	# this command and remove the stderr-redirect.
+	@echo `( git log --format='%an, ' v$(VERSION)..HEAD 2>/dev/null | sort -u | tr -d '\n' | sed 's/, $$//' ) || echo`
 	@echo
 	@echo "        - Location, YYYY-MM-DD"
 	@echo "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"