diff --git a/builtin-describe.c b/builtin-describe.c
index 3da99c1d06..e515f9ca9b 100644
--- a/builtin-describe.c
+++ b/builtin-describe.c
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ static void describe(const char *arg, int last_one)
 		 */
 		display_name(n);
 		if (longformat)
-			show_suffix(0, n->tag->tagged->sha1);
+			show_suffix(0, n->tag ? n->tag->tagged->sha1 : sha1);
 		printf("\n");
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/t/t6120-describe.sh b/t/t6120-describe.sh
index c6be2597f7..2fb672c3b4 100755
--- a/t/t6120-describe.sh
+++ b/t/t6120-describe.sh
@@ -139,4 +139,6 @@ check_describe "test1-lightweight-*" --tags --match="test1-*"
 
 check_describe "test2-lightweight-*" --tags --match="test2-*"
 
+check_describe "test2-lightweight-*" --long --tags --match="test2-*" HEAD^
+
 test_done