diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dc6209463..ac2d83d76 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ VERSIONFILE=VERSION
 VERSION:=$(shell cat $(VERSIONFILE))
 
 # the number of commits since the last tag
-PATCHLEVEL:=$(shell expr `git describe --long | awk -F - '{print $$2}' `)
+PATCHLEVEL:=$(shell git describe --long | awk -F - '{print $$2}')
 # the number of commits since the last_release tag
 #PATCHLEVEL:=$(shell git rev-list last_release..HEAD | wc -l)