diff --git a/src/msspec/version.py b/src/msspec/version.py
index bc5a91b..74c7351 100644
--- a/src/msspec/version.py
+++ b/src/msspec/version.py
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ PKGNAME = 'msspec'
 
 try:
     cmd = ["git describe|sed 's/-\([0-9]\+\)-.*/.dev\\1/g'"]
-    result = subprocess.run(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, shell=True)
+    result = subprocess.run(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, shell=True)
     __version__ = result.stdout.decode('utf-8').strip()
+    if __version__ == "":
+        raise
 except Exception as err:
     try:
         thisfile_path = os.path.abspath(__file__)