diff --git a/packages/compile/src/version.ts b/packages/compile/src/version.ts
index 1333ede6..fe4e59ed 100644
--- a/packages/compile/src/version.ts
+++ b/packages/compile/src/version.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-import { Version } from '@pi-base/core'
+import type { Version } from '@pi-base/core'
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process'
 import { resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { promisify } from 'node:util'
 
 import { readFile } from './fs.js'
 
@@ -31,10 +33,12 @@ async function fromRepo(root = '.'): Promise<Version | undefined> {
   const head = refName(contents)
 
   if (head) {
-    const sha = await readFile(resolve(root, '.git', 'refs', 'heads', head))
+    const { stdout } = await promisify(execFile)('git', ['rev-parse', 'HEAD'], {
+      cwd: root,
+    })
     return {
       ref: head,
-      sha: sha.trim(),
+      sha: stdout.trim(),
     }
   }
 }