diff --git a/test/commands/version.js b/test/commands/version.js
index 64b30acc5..1c4e8c299 100644
--- a/test/commands/version.js
+++ b/test/commands/version.js
@@ -3,87 +3,103 @@ var expect = require('expect.js');
 var helpers = require('../helpers');
 var version = helpers.require('lib/commands').version;
 
-describe('bower list', function () {
+describe('bower version', function () {
 
     var mainPackage = new helpers.TempDir({
-        'bower.json': {
-            name: 'foobar',
-            version: '0.0.0'
-        }
-    });
-
-    var gitPackage = new helpers.TempDir({
         'v0.0.0': {
             'bower.json': {
                 name: 'foobar',
-                version: '0.0.0'
             }
         }
     });
 
+    var packageWithoutTags = new helpers.TempDir({});
+
+
     it('bumps patch version', function() {
-        mainPackage.prepare();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
         return helpers.run(version, ['patch', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(mainPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('0.0.1');
+            expect(mainPackage.latestGitTag()).to.be('0.0.1');
         });
     });
 
     it('bumps minor version', function() {
-        mainPackage.prepare();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
         return helpers.run(version, ['minor', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(mainPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('0.1.0');
+            expect(mainPackage.latestGitTag()).to.be('0.1.0');
         });
     });
 
     it('bumps major version', function() {
-        mainPackage.prepare();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
         return helpers.run(version, ['major', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(mainPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('1.0.0');
+            expect(mainPackage.latestGitTag()).to.be('1.0.0');
         });
     });
 
     it('changes version', function() {
-        mainPackage.prepare();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
         return helpers.run(version, ['1.2.3', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(mainPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('1.2.3');
+            expect(mainPackage.latestGitTag()).to.be('1.2.3');
         });
     });
 
     it('returns the new version', function() {
-        mainPackage.prepare();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
         return helpers.run(version, ['major', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function(results) {
             expect(results[0]).to.be('1.0.0');
         });
     });
 
-    it('bumps patch version, create commit, and tag', function() {
-        gitPackage.prepareGit();
-
-        return helpers.run(version, ['patch', {}, { cwd: gitPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(gitPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('0.0.1');
+    it('fails on a dirty git repository', function() {
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
+        mainPackage.create({
+            'dirty.txt': 'This file has not been committed'
+        });
 
-            var tags = gitPackage.git('tag');
-            expect(tags).to.be('v0.0.0\nv0.0.1\n');
-            var message = gitPackage.git('log', '--pretty=format:%s', '-n1');
-            expect(message).to.be('v0.0.1');
+        helpers.run(version, ['patch', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(null, function(err) {
+            expect(err).to.be.an(Error);
+            expect(err.code).to.be('ENOTGITREPOSITORY');
         });
     });
 
     it('bumps with custom commit message', function() {
-        gitPackage.prepareGit();
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
 
-        return helpers.run(version, ['patch', { message: 'Bumping %s, because what'}, { cwd: gitPackage.path }]).then(function() {
-            expect(gitPackage.readJson('bower.json').version).to.be('0.0.1');
-
-            var tags = gitPackage.git('tag');
+        return helpers.run(version, ['patch', { message: 'Bumping %s, because what'}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
+            var tags = mainPackage.git('tag');
             expect(tags).to.be('v0.0.0\nv0.0.1\n');
-            var message = gitPackage.git('log', '--pretty=format:%s', '-n1');
+            var message = mainPackage.git('log', '--pretty=format:%s', '-n1');
             expect(message).to.be('Bumping 0.0.1, because what');
         });
     });
+
+    it('creates commit and tags', function() {
+        mainPackage.prepareGit();
+
+        return helpers.run(version, ['patch', {}, { cwd: mainPackage.path }]).then(function() {
+            var tags = mainPackage.git('tag');
+            expect(tags).to.be('v0.0.0\nv0.0.1\n');
+            var message = mainPackage.git('log', '--pretty=format:%s', '-n1');
+            expect(message).to.be('v0.0.1');
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('assumes v0.0.0 when no tags exist', function() {
+        packageWithoutTags.prepareGit();
+        packageWithoutTags.create({
+            'index.js': 'console.log("hello, world");'
+        });
+        packageWithoutTags.git('add', '-A');
+        packageWithoutTags.git('commit', '-m"commit"');
+
+        return helpers.run(version, ['major', {}, { cwd: packageWithoutTags.path }]).then(function() {
+            expect(packageWithoutTags.latestGitTag()).to.be('1.0.0');
+        });
+    });
 });
diff --git a/test/helpers.js b/test/helpers.js
index 70c3dd6b3..da18154d1 100644
--- a/test/helpers.js
+++ b/test/helpers.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ var proxyquire = require('proxyquire').noCallThru().noPreserveCache();
 var spawnSync = require('spawn-sync');
 var config = require('../lib/config');
 var nock = require('nock');
+var semver = require('semver');
 
 // For better promise errors
 Q.longStackSupport = true;
@@ -155,6 +156,20 @@ exports.TempDir = (function() {
         }
     };
 
+    TempDir.prototype.latestGitTag = function () {
+        var versions = this.git('tag')
+            .split(/\r?\n/)
+            .map(function(t) { return t.slice(1); })
+            .filter(semver.valid)
+            .sort(semver.compare);
+
+        if (versions.length >= 1) {
+            return versions[versions.length - 1];
+        } else {
+            throw new Error('No valid git version tags found.');
+        }
+    };
+
     TempDir.prototype.exists = function (name) {
         return fs.existsSync(path.join(this.path, name));
     };