diff --git a/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/git/update.sh b/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/git/update.sh
index a9fa18be1558..d0bc413fb893 100755
--- a/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/git/update.sh
+++ b/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/git/update.sh
@@ -5,14 +5,15 @@ set -eu -o pipefail
 
 oldVersion="$(nix-instantiate --eval -E "with import ./. {}; lib.getVersion git" | tr -d '"')"
 latestTag="$(git ls-remote --tags --sort="v:refname" git://github.com/git/git.git | grep -v '\{\}' | grep -v '\-rc' | tail -1 | sed 's|^.*/v\(.*\)|\1|')"
+targetVersion="${1:-latestTag}"
 
-if [ ! "${oldVersion}" = "${latestTag}" ]; then
-  update-source-version git "${latestTag}"
+if [ ! "${oldVersion}" = "${targetVersion}" ]; then
+  update-source-version git "${targetVersion}"
   nixpkgs="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
   default_nix="$nixpkgs/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/git/default.nix"
   nix-build -A git
   git add "${default_nix}"
-  git commit -m "git: ${oldVersion} -> ${latestTag}"
+  git commit -m "git: ${oldVersion} -> ${targetVersion}"
 else
   echo "git is already up-to-date"
 fi