diff --git a/configure b/configure
index c7768c4c..e02b6520 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -383,11 +383,10 @@ has_or_abort lib="${ncurses_libs}"                  \
 
 # If this version is n hg clone, try to get the revision number
 # If we can't get the revision number, use date
+printf "Computing version string... "
 case "${VERSION}" in
     *+hg|hg)
-        has_or_abort prog=hg
-        printf "Computing version string... "
-        REVISION="$( hg id -n 2>/dev/null )"
+        REVISION="$( hg id -n 2>/dev/null || true )"
         case "${REVISION}" in
             "")
                 VERSION="${VERSION}_unknown@$( date +%Y%m%d.%H%M%S )";;
@@ -400,7 +399,7 @@ case "${VERSION}" in
         VERSION="$( printf "${VERSION}\n" |"${sed}" -r -e 's|/+|_|g;' )"
         ;;
 esac
-echo "${VERSION}"
+printf "${VERSION}\n"
 
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Compute and check install paths