diff --git a/config/prte_get_version.m4 b/config/prte_get_version.m4
index 7d55629a57..b78a64009c 100644
--- a/config/prte_get_version.m4
+++ b/config/prte_get_version.m4
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ m4_define([PRTE_GET_VERSION],[
 
             # If we're in a git repo and we found the git command, use
             # git describe to get the repo rev
-            if test -d "$srcdir/.git" && test $git_happy -eq 1; then
+            if test -r "$srcdir/.git" && test $git_happy -eq 1; then
                 if test "$srcdir" != "`pwd`"; then
                     git_save_dir=`pwd`
                     cd "$srcdir"
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ m4_define([PRTE_GET_VERSION],[
                     $2_REPO_REV=`git describe --tags --always`
                 fi
             else
-                $2_REPO_REV=date`$srcdir/config/getdate.sh '+%Y-%m-%d'`
+                $2_REPO_REV=`$srcdir/config/getdate.sh '+%Y-%m-%d'`
             fi
         fi