diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitCommandParameters.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitCommandParameters.groovy
index ba2dfb4..15dbaf2 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitCommandParameters.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitCommandParameters.groovy
@@ -9,4 +9,5 @@ interface GitCommandParameters extends ValueSourceParameters {
     Property<String> getGitConfigKey()
     Property<String> getGitConfigValue()
     Property<String> getCommit()
+    Property<String> getTag()
 }
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadCommand.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadCommand.groovy
index 07c65d5..63b8fc6 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadCommand.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadCommand.groovy
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ abstract class GitReadCommand implements ValueSource<String, GitCommandParameter
         commandLineArgs.addAll(args)
         execOperations.exec {
             it.setCommandLine(commandLineArgs)
+            it.ignoreExitValue = true
             it.standardOutput = output
             it.errorOutput = error
         }
@@ -68,6 +69,17 @@ abstract class DescribeHeadWithTag extends GitReadCommand {
         }
     }
 }
+
+abstract class DescribeHeadWithTagWithExclude extends GitReadCommand {
+    @Override
+    String obtain() {
+        try {
+            return executeGitCommand( "describe", "HEAD", "--tags", "--long", "--exclude", "\"*-rc.*\"")
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            return null
+        }
+    }
+}
 /**
  * Uses git describe to find a given tag in the history of the current branch
  * ex. git describe HEAD --tags --match v10.0.0 -> v10.0.0-220-ga00baaa
@@ -83,6 +95,21 @@ abstract class TagsPointingAt extends GitReadCommand {
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Uses git describe to find a given tag in the history of the current branch
+ * ex. git describe HEAD --tags --match v10.0.0 -> v10.0.0-220-ga00baaa
+ */
+abstract class CommitFromTag extends GitReadCommand {
+    @Override
+    String obtain() {
+        try {
+            return executeGitCommand( "rev-list", "-n", '1', parameters.tag.get())
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            return null
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /**
  * Uses to determine if a given repo has any commit
  */
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadOnlyCommandUtil.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadOnlyCommandUtil.groovy
index 52331ce..66886c3 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadOnlyCommandUtil.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/command/GitReadOnlyCommandUtil.groovy
@@ -131,9 +131,13 @@ class GitReadOnlyCommandUtil implements Serializable {
         }
     }
 
-    String describeHeadWithTags() {
+
+
+    String describeHeadWithTags(boolean excludePreReleases) {
         try {
-            def describeTagInHeadProvider = providers.of(DescribeHeadWithTag.class) {
+            def describeTagInHeadProvider = excludePreReleases ? providers.of(DescribeHeadWithTagWithExclude.class) {
+                it.parameters.rootDir.set(rootDir)
+            } : providers.of(DescribeHeadWithTag.class) {
                 it.parameters.rootDir.set(rootDir)
             }
             return describeTagInHeadProvider.get().toString()
@@ -144,6 +148,20 @@ class GitReadOnlyCommandUtil implements Serializable {
         }
     }
 
+    String findCommitForTag(String tag) {
+        try {
+            def commitForTag = providers.of(CommitFromTag.class) {
+                it.parameters.rootDir.set(rootDir)
+                it.parameters.tag.set(tag)
+            }
+            return commitForTag.get().toString()
+                    .split("\n")
+                    .first()?.replaceAll("\n", "")?.toString()
+        } catch(Exception e) {
+            return null
+        }
+    }
+
     List<String> getTagsPointingAt(String commit) {
         try {
             def tagsPointingAtProvider = providers.of(TagsPointingAt.class) {
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/semver/NearestVersionLocator.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/semver/NearestVersionLocator.groovy
index 9c145b4..bd7e5c1 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/semver/NearestVersionLocator.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/git/semver/NearestVersionLocator.groovy
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class NearestVersionLocator {
 
     private getLatestTagWithDistance(boolean excludePreReleases) {
         try {
-            String result = gitCommandUtil.describeHeadWithTags()
+            String result = gitCommandUtil.describeHeadWithTags(excludePreReleases)
             if(!result) {
                 return [version: UNKNOWN, distance: gitCommandUtil.getCommitCountForHead()]
             }
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ class NearestVersionLocator {
                 return [version: parseTag(parts[0], true), distance: 0]
             }
 
-            String commit = parts[parts.size() -1].drop(1)
+            String foundTag = parts.size() == 4 ? parts[0..1].join('-') : parts[0]
+            String commit = gitCommandUtil.findCommitForTag(foundTag)
             List<Version> allTagsForCommit = gitCommandUtil.getTagsPointingAt(commit).collect {
                 parseTag(it)
             }.findAll {
@@ -101,12 +102,11 @@ class NearestVersionLocator {
             }
 
             if(!allTagsForCommit || allTagsForCommit.every { !it }) {
-                String tag = parts.size() == 4 ? parts[0..1].join('-') : parts[0]
-                Version version = parseTag(tag, true)
+                Version version = parseTag(foundTag, true)
                 if(version.preReleaseVersion && excludePreReleases) {
                     return [version: UNKNOWN, distance: gitCommandUtil.getCommitCountForHead()]
                 }
-                return [version: parseTag(tag, true), distance: parts[parts.size() - 2]?.toInteger()]
+                return [version: parseTag(foundTag, true), distance: parts[parts.size() - 2]?.toInteger()]
             }
 
             def highest = allTagsForCommit.min { a, b ->