diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a6c4d10..ebb7631 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,17 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
+  test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.10'
+      - run: |
+          python -m pip install pytest
+          python -m pytest
+
   build:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
diff --git a/conda_build_prepare/git_helpers.py b/conda_build_prepare/git_helpers.py
index 2acd008..0c18f4d 100644
--- a/conda_build_prepare/git_helpers.py
+++ b/conda_build_prepare/git_helpers.py
@@ -145,10 +145,11 @@ def _call_custom_git_cmd(git_repo, cmd_string, check=True, quiet=False):
     return stdout.strip()
 
 
-def get_latest_describe_tag(git_repo):
-    # Find the `git describe` tag having any version-like part
+def get_first_reachable_tag(git_repo):
     try:
-        return _call_custom_git_cmd(git_repo, 'describe --tags --abbrev=0', quiet=True)
+        # list reachable tag sorted by commit date
+        tags = _call_custom_git_cmd(git_repo, 'tag --merged').splitlines()
+        return tags[-1]
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
         return None
 
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@ def git_rewrite_tags(git_repo):
     print(f'\nRewriting tags in "{os.path.abspath(git_repo)}"...\n')
 
     while True:
-        tag = get_latest_describe_tag(git_repo)
+        tag = get_first_reachable_tag(git_repo)
         if tag is None:
             # Add '0.0' tag on initial commit and skip rewriting.
             git_add_initial_tag(git_repo)
diff --git a/test/test_git_helpers.py b/test/test_git_helpers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef2d57e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_git_helpers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import time
+
+import conda_build_prepare.git_helpers as gh
+
+COMMIT_DELAY = 1
+
+
+def git_commit_and_tag(filepath, msg, tag=None):
+    now = time.time()
+    with open(filepath, 'w') as f:
+        f.write(f'{now}')
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(filepath.parent, f'add {filepath}')
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(filepath.parent, f'commit -m {msg}')
+    if tag:
+        gh._call_custom_git_cmd(filepath.parent, f'tag {tag}')
+    time.sleep(COMMIT_DELAY)
+
+
+def test_get_first_reachable_tag(tmp_path):
+    repo = tmp_path
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, 'init -b main')
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(
+        repo, 'config --local user.email "you@example.com"'
+    )
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(
+        repo, 'config --local user.name "Your Name"'
+    )
+    git_commit_and_tag(repo / 'foo', 'first', tag=None)
+
+    initial_rev = gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, 'rev-parse HEAD')
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, 'checkout -b fixup')
+    git_commit_and_tag(repo / 'foo', 'unreachable', tag='v0.0-unreachabe')
+
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, 'checkout main')
+    git_commit_and_tag(repo / 'foo', 'second', tag='v0.1')
+
+    git_commit_and_tag(repo / 'foo', 'untagged', tag=None)
+
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, 'checkout main')
+    git_commit_and_tag(repo / 'foo', 'third', tag='v0.2')
+
+    gh._call_custom_git_cmd(repo, f'tag v0.0-retroactive {initial_rev}')
+    assert gh.get_first_reachable_tag(repo) == 'v0.2'