diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index e9a5116ac..3afa0f02a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 language: cpp
 sudo: required
 dist: trusty
+git:
+  depth: 9999999
 notifications:
   irc: chat.freenode.net#zoneminder-dev
 branches:
diff --git a/utils/packpack/startpackpack.sh b/utils/packpack/startpackpack.sh
index 80fcb5d37..6d9e37b51 100755
--- a/utils/packpack/startpackpack.sh
+++ b/utils/packpack/startpackpack.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,23 @@ checksanity () {
 
 }
 
+# Check key variables before calling packpack
+checkvars () {
+    if [ -z ${VERSION} ]; then
+        echo
+        echo "FATAL: VERSION variable was null. Cannot continue."
+        echo
+        exit 98
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z ${RELEASE} ]; then
+        echo
+        echo "FATAL: RELEASE variable was null. Cannot Continue"
+        echo
+        exit 98
+    fi
+}
+
 # Steps common to all builds
 commonprep () {
     mkdir -p build
@@ -116,12 +133,6 @@ installtrusty () {
 
 # This sets the naming convention for the deb packages
 setdebpkgver () {
-
-    # DEBUG
-    echo
-    echo "Output of git describe: $(git describe)"
-    echo "Output of git describe --debug --long --always: $(git describe --long --always --debug)"
-    echo "Output of git describe --long --always: $(git describe --long --always)"
     
     # Set VERSION to x.xx.x+x e.g. 1.30.2+15
     # the last x is number of commits since release
@@ -131,6 +142,8 @@ setdebpkgver () {
     export VERSION="$zmver+$commitnum"
     export RELEASE="${DIST}"
 
+    checkvars
+    
     echo
     echo "Packpack VERSION has been set to: ${VERSION}"
     echo "Packpack RELEASE has been set to: ${RELEASE}"
@@ -160,6 +173,8 @@ if [ "${TRAVIS_EVENT_TYPE}" == "cron" ] || [ "${TRAVIS}" != "true"  ]; then
         export VERSION=$(git describe --long --always | sed -n 's/^\([0-9\.]*\)-\([0-9]*\)-\([a-z0-9]*\)/\1/p')
         export RELEASE=$(git describe --long --always | sed -n 's/^\([0-9\.]*\)-\([0-9]*\)-\([a-z0-9]*\)/\2/p')
 
+        checkvars
+        
         echo
         echo "Packpack VERSION has been set to: ${VERSION}"
         echo "Packpack RELEASE has been set to: ${RELEASE}"