diff --git a/utils/torch_utils.py b/utils/torch_utils.py
index dfab83d5374a..d6da0cae8945 100644
--- a/utils/torch_utils.py
+++ b/utils/torch_utils.py
@@ -55,10 +55,9 @@ def git_describe(path=Path(__file__).parent):  # path must be a directory
     # return human-readable git description, i.e. v5.0-5-g3e25f1e https://git-scm.com/docs/git-describe
     s = f'git -C {path} describe --tags --long --always'
     try:
-        r = subprocess.check_output(s, shell=True).decode()[:-1]
-        return '' if r.startswith('fatal: not a git repository') else r
+        return subprocess.check_output(s, shell=True, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode()[:-1]
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
-        return ''
+        return ''  # not a git repository
 
 
 def select_device(device='', batch_size=None):