diff --git a/ckanext/odsh/helpers.py b/ckanext/odsh/helpers.py
index a4881662428c564ec05ba3e75140d89d6bac9bb0..b629543d03d6d813d00f19931c28b58a4dbfbabe 100644
--- a/ckanext/odsh/helpers.py
+++ b/ckanext/odsh/helpers.py
@@ -229,10 +229,15 @@ def odsh_public_resource_url(res):
 
 def odsh_get_version_id():
     try:
-        # return subprocess.check_output(["git", "rev-parse", "HEAD"]).strip()
-        return config.get('ckanext.odsh.version', 'unknown')
+        home = config.get('ckanext.odsh.home', None)
+        if home:
+            if home[-1] == '/':
+                home = home[:-1]
+            home += '/.git'
+            return subprocess.check_output(["git", "--git-dir", home, "rev-parse", "HEAD"]).strip()
     except:
         return 'unknown'
+    return 'unknown'
 
 def odsh_show_testbanner():
     return config.get('ckanext.odsh.showtestbanner', 'False') == 'True'