diff --git a/mitmproxy/utils/__init__.py b/mitmproxy/utils/__init__.py
index 86649864b..e69de29bb 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-import os
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-
-@contextmanager
-def chdir(dir):
-    orig_dir = os.getcwd()
-    os.chdir(dir)
-    yield
-    os.chdir(orig_dir)
diff --git a/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py b/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
index c2eee2b6c..de01b12cd 100644
--- a/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
+++ b/mitmproxy/utils/debug.py
@@ -8,60 +8,49 @@ import traceback
 import subprocess
 
 from mitmproxy import version
-from mitmproxy import utils
 
 from OpenSSL import SSL
 
 
 def dump_system_info():
-    git_describe = 'release version'
-    with utils.chdir(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))):
-        try:
-            c = ['git', 'describe', '--tags', '--long']
-            git_describe = subprocess.check_output(c, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
-            last_tag, tag_dist, commit = git_describe.decode().strip().rsplit("-", 2)
+    mitmproxy_version = version.VERSION
+    here = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
+    try:
+        git_describe = subprocess.check_output(
+            ['git', 'describe', '--tags', '--long'],
+            stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+            cwd=here,
+        )
+    except:
+        pass
+    else:
+        last_tag, tag_dist, commit = git_describe.decode().strip().rsplit("-", 2)
 
-            if last_tag.startswith('v'):
-                # remove the 'v' prefix
-                last_tag = last_tag[1:]
-            if commit.startswith('g'):
-                # remove the 'g' prefix added by recent git versions
-                commit = commit[1:]
+        commit = commit.lstrip("g")  # remove the 'g' prefix added by recent git versions
+        tag_dist = int(tag_dist)
 
-            # build the same version specifier as used for snapshots by rtool
-            git_describe = "{version}dev{tag:04}-0x{commit}".format(
-                version=last_tag,
-                tag=int(tag_dist),
-                commit=commit,
-            )
-        except:
-            pass
+        if tag_dist > 0:
+            tag_dist = "dev{:04}".format(tag_dist)
+        else:
+            tag_dist = ""
 
-    bin_indicator = ""  # PyInstaller builds indicator, if using precompiled binary
+        mitmproxy_version += "{tag_dist} ({commit})".format(
+            tag_dist=tag_dist,
+            commit=commit,
+        )
+
+    # PyInstaller builds indicator, if using precompiled binary
     if getattr(sys, 'frozen', False):
-        bin_indicator = "Precompiled Binary"
+        bin_indicator = "binary"
+    else:
+        bin_indicator = ""
 
     data = [
-        "Mitmproxy version: {} ({}) {}".format(version.VERSION, git_describe, bin_indicator),
-        "Python version: {}".format(platform.python_version()),
-        "Platform: {}".format(platform.platform()),
-        "SSL version: {}".format(SSL.SSLeay_version(SSL.SSLEAY_VERSION).decode()),
+        "Mitmproxy: {} {}".format(mitmproxy_version, bin_indicator),
+        "Python:    {}".format(platform.python_version()),
+        "OpenSSL:   {}".format(SSL.SSLeay_version(SSL.SSLEAY_VERSION).decode()),
+        "Platform:  {}".format(platform.platform()),
     ]
-    d = platform.linux_distribution()
-    t = "Linux distro: %s %s %s" % d
-    if d[0]:  # pragma: no cover
-        data.append(t)
-
-    d = platform.mac_ver()
-    t = "Mac version: %s %s %s" % d
-    if d[0]:  # pragma: no cover
-        data.append(t)
-
-    d = platform.win32_ver()
-    t = "Windows version: %s %s %s %s" % d
-    if d[0]:  # pragma: no cover
-        data.append(t)
-
     return "\n".join(data)
 
 
diff --git a/test/mitmproxy/utils/test_debug.py b/test/mitmproxy/utils/test_debug.py
index 4371ef70f..a8e1054da 100644
--- a/test/mitmproxy/utils/test_debug.py
+++ b/test/mitmproxy/utils/test_debug.py
@@ -11,13 +11,19 @@ from mitmproxy.utils import debug
 def test_dump_system_info_precompiled(precompiled):
     sys.frozen = None
     with mock.patch.object(sys, 'frozen', precompiled):
-        assert ("Precompiled Binary" in debug.dump_system_info()) == precompiled
+        assert ("binary" in debug.dump_system_info()) == precompiled
 
 
 def test_dump_system_info_version():
+    with mock.patch('subprocess.check_output') as m:
+        m.return_value = b"v2.0.0-0-cafecafe"
+        x = debug.dump_system_info()
+        assert 'dev' not in x
+        assert 'cafecafe' in x
+
     with mock.patch('subprocess.check_output') as m:
         m.side_effect = subprocess.CalledProcessError(-1, 'git describe --tags --long')
-        assert 'release version' in debug.dump_system_info()
+        assert 'dev' not in debug.dump_system_info()
 
 
 def test_dump_info():