diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5edfd0ed5a1c8..3302c26ec7008 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -637,10 +637,20 @@ valopt arm-linux-androideabi-ndk "" "arm-linux-androideabi NDK standalone path"
 valopt armv7-linux-androideabi-ndk "" "armv7-linux-androideabi NDK standalone path"
 valopt aarch64-linux-android-ndk "" "aarch64-linux-android NDK standalone path"
 valopt nacl-cross-path  "" "NaCl SDK path (Pepper Canary is recommended). Must be absolute!"
-valopt release-channel "dev" "the name of the release channel to build"
 valopt musl-root "/usr/local" "MUSL root installation directory"
 valopt extra-filename "" "Additional data that is hashed and passed to the -C extra-filename flag"
 
+if [ -e ${CFG_SRC_DIR}.git ]
+then
+    valopt release-channel "dev" "the name of the release channel to build"
+else
+    # If we have no git directory then we are probably a tarball distribution
+    # and should default to stable channel - Issue 28322
+    probe CFG_GIT          git
+    msg "git: no git directory. Changing default release channel to stable"
+    valopt release-channel "stable" "the name of the release channel to build"
+fi
+
 # Used on systems where "cc" and "ar" are unavailable
 valopt default-linker "cc" "the default linker"
 valopt default-ar     "ar" "the default ar"