diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/GitVersionConfigurationException.cs b/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/GitVersionConfigurationException.cs
index 76cfb026e8..6b4387a9fd 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/GitVersionConfigurationException.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/GitVersionConfigurationException.cs
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ namespace GitVersion
 {
     using System;
 
-    public class GitVersionConfigurationException : Exception
+    [Serializable]
+    public class GitVersionConfigurationException : GitVersionException
     {
-        public GitVersionConfigurationException(string msg) : base(msg)
+        public GitVersionConfigurationException(string msg)
+            : base(msg)
         {
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/OldConfigurationException.cs b/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/OldConfigurationException.cs
index 08603b4daf..58a8ef2625 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/OldConfigurationException.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/Configuration/OldConfigurationException.cs
@@ -1,18 +1,12 @@
 namespace GitVersion
 {
     using System;
-    using System.Runtime.Serialization;
 
     [Serializable]
-    public class OldConfigurationException : Exception
+    public class OldConfigurationException : GitVersionException
     {
-        public OldConfigurationException(string message) : base(message)
-        {
-        }
-
-        protected OldConfigurationException(
-            SerializationInfo info,
-            StreamingContext context) : base(info, context)
+        public OldConfigurationException(string message)
+            : base(message)
         {
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionCore.csproj b/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionCore.csproj
index 8131080017..0fd85a6b3f 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionCore.csproj
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionCore.csproj
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@
     <Compile Include="GitVersionCache.cs" />
     <Compile Include="GitVersionCacheKey.cs" />
     <Compile Include="GitVersionCacheKeyFactory.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="GitVersionException.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Helpers\EncodingHelper.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Helpers\FileSystem.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Helpers\IFileSystem.cs" />
diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionException.cs b/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionException.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b6afb92952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/GitVersionException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+namespace GitVersion
+{
+    using System;
+
+    using GitTools;
+
+    [Serializable]
+    public class GitVersionException : GitToolsException
+    {
+        public GitVersionException(string message)
+            : base(message)
+        {
+        }
+
+
+        public GitVersionException(string message, Exception innerException)
+            : base(message, innerException)
+        {
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/VersionCalculation/FallbackBaseVersionStrategy.cs b/src/GitVersionCore/VersionCalculation/FallbackBaseVersionStrategy.cs
index 85a2c966f1..a7087923d4 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore/VersionCalculation/FallbackBaseVersionStrategy.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/VersionCalculation/FallbackBaseVersionStrategy.cs
@@ -14,11 +14,22 @@ public class FallbackBaseVersionStrategy : BaseVersionStrategy
     {
         public override IEnumerable<BaseVersion> GetVersions(GitVersionContext context)
         {
-            var baseVersionSource = context.Repository.Commits.QueryBy(new CommitFilter
+            Commit baseVersionSource;
+            var currentBranchTip = context.CurrentBranch.Tip;
+
+            try
+            {
+                baseVersionSource = context.Repository.Commits.QueryBy(new CommitFilter
+                {
+                    IncludeReachableFrom = currentBranchTip
+                }).First(c => !c.Parents.Any());
+            }
+            catch (NotFoundException exception)
             {
-                IncludeReachableFrom = context.CurrentBranch.Tip
-            }).First(c => !c.Parents.Any());
-            yield return new BaseVersion(context, "Fallback base version", false, new SemanticVersion(minor: 1), baseVersionSource, null);
+                throw new GitVersionException($"Can't find commit {currentBranchTip.Sha}. Please ensure that the repository is an unshallow clone with `git fetch --unshallow`.", exception);
+            }
+
+            yield return new BaseVersion(context, "Fallback base version", false, new SemanticVersion(minor : 1), baseVersionSource, null);
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file