static int abbrev = DEFAULT_ABBREV;
 static int max_candidates = 10;
 const char *pattern = NULL;
+static int always;
 
 struct commit_name {
        struct tag *tag;
                }
        }
 
-       if (!match_cnt)
-               die("cannot describe '%s'", sha1_to_hex(cmit->object.sha1));
+       if (!match_cnt) {
+               const unsigned char *sha1 = cmit->object.sha1;
+               if (always) {
+                       printf("%s\n", find_unique_abbrev(sha1, abbrev));
+                       return;
+               }
+               die("cannot describe '%s'", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+       }
 
        qsort(all_matches, match_cnt, sizeof(all_matches[0]), compare_pt);
 
                            "consider <n> most recent tags (default: 10)"),
                OPT_STRING(0, "match",       &pattern, "pattern",
                           "only consider tags matching <pattern>"),
+               OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "always",     &always,
+                          "show abbreviated commit object as fallback"),
                OPT_END(),
        };
 
                die("--long is incompatible with --abbrev=0");
 
        if (contains) {
-               const char **args = xmalloc((6 + argc) * sizeof(char*));
+               const char **args = xmalloc((7 + argc) * sizeof(char*));
                int i = 0;
                args[i++] = "name-rev";
                args[i++] = "--name-only";
                args[i++] = "--no-undefined";
+               if (always)
+                       args[i++] = "--always";
                if (!all) {
                        args[i++] = "--tags";
                        if (pattern) {