diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/DescribeTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/DescribeTest.java
index 4bad73b5b..c78544309 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/DescribeTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/DescribeTest.java
@@ -88,6 +88,31 @@ public void testDescribeCommitMatch() throws Exception {
 				execute("git describe --match v1.*"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testDescribeCommitMatchAbbrev() throws Exception {
+		initialCommitAndTag();
+		secondCommit();
+		assertArrayEquals(new String[] { "v1.0-1-g56f6cebdf3f5", "" },
+				execute("git describe --abbrev 12 --match v1.*"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDescribeCommitMatchAbbrevMin() throws Exception {
+		initialCommitAndTag();
+		secondCommit();
+		assertArrayEquals(new String[] { "v1.0-1-g56f6", "" },
+				execute("git describe --abbrev -5 --match v1.*"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDescribeCommitMatchAbbrevMax() throws Exception {
+		initialCommitAndTag();
+		secondCommit();
+		assertArrayEquals(new String[] {
+				"v1.0-1-g56f6cebdf3f5ceeecd803365abf0996fb1fa006d", "" },
+				execute("git describe --abbrev 50 --match v1.*"));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testDescribeCommitMatch2() throws Exception {
 		initialCommitAndTag();
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
index d51daafde..fda0bf6ff 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ unmergedPaths=Unmerged paths:
 unsupportedOperation=Unsupported operation: {0}
 untrackedFiles=Untracked files:
 updating=Updating {0}..{1}
+usage_Abbrev=Instead of using the default number of hexadecimal digits (which will vary according to the number of objects in the repository with a default of 7) of the abbreviated object name, use <n> digits, or as many digits as needed to form a unique object name. An <n> of 0 will suppress long format, only showing the closest tag.
 usage_Aggressive=This option will cause gc to more aggressively optimize the repository at the expense of taking much more time
 usage_AlwaysFallback=Show uniquely abbreviated commit object as fallback
 usage_bareClone=Make a bare Git repository. That is, instead of creating [DIRECTORY] and placing the administrative files in [DIRECTORY]/.git, make the [DIRECTORY] itself the $GIT_DIR.
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Describe.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Describe.java
index 8aa119a35..116db037d 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Describe.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Describe.java
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ class Describe extends TextBuiltin {
 	@Option(name = "--match", usage = "usage_Match", metaVar = "metaVar_pattern")
 	private List<String> patterns = new ArrayList<>();
 
+	@Option(name = "--abbrev", usage = "usage_Abbrev")
+	private Integer abbrev;
+
 	/** {@inheritDoc} */
 	@Override
 	protected void run() {
@@ -57,6 +60,9 @@ protected void run() {
 			cmd.setTags(useTags);
 			cmd.setAlways(always);
 			cmd.setMatch(patterns.toArray(new String[0]));
+			if (abbrev != null) {
+				cmd.setAbbrev(abbrev.intValue());
+			}
 			String result = null;
 			try {
 				result = cmd.call();