diff --git a/tribits/ReleaseNotes.txt b/tribits/ReleaseNotes.txt
index 683899d4f..86e4ad4f1 100644
--- a/tribits/ReleaseNotes.txt
+++ b/tribits/ReleaseNotes.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ Release Notes for TriBITS
 
 2021/11/18:
 
+(*) MAJOR: The default <Project>_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT will be
+    overridden to OFF if the 'git' executable cannot be found at configure
+    time.  See updated TriBITS Developer's Guilde documenation.
+
 (*) MAJOR: The default value for <Project>_ENABLE_Fortran is set to OFF on
     WIN32 systems.  (Getting a Fortran compiler for native Windows is not
     typically very easy.)
diff --git a/tribits/core/package_arch/TribitsGlobalMacros.cmake b/tribits/core/package_arch/TribitsGlobalMacros.cmake
index 34e0bdfef..5ae79c5fc 100644
--- a/tribits/core/package_arch/TribitsGlobalMacros.cmake
+++ b/tribits/core/package_arch/TribitsGlobalMacros.cmake
@@ -653,7 +653,9 @@ macro(tribits_define_global_options_and_define_extra_repos)
     )
   tribits_get_invalid_categories(${PROJECT_NAME}_TEST_CATEGORIES)
 
-  if ("${${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT}" STREQUAL "" )
+  if (NOT GIT_EXECUTABLE)
+    set(${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT OFF)
+  elseif ("${${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT}" STREQUAL "" )
     set(${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT OFF)
   endif()
   advanced_set(
@@ -1391,6 +1393,7 @@ function(tribits_generate_repo_version_output_and_file_and_install)
   # A) Create the ${PROJECT_NAME}RepoVersion.txt file if requested
   #
 
+  print_var(${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE)
   if (${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE)
 
     # A) Make sure that there is a .git dir in the project before generating
diff --git a/tribits/doc/guides/TribitsCoreDetailedReference.rst b/tribits/doc/guides/TribitsCoreDetailedReference.rst
index 45feeb1e9..38d58b419 100644
--- a/tribits/doc/guides/TribitsCoreDetailedReference.rst
+++ b/tribits/doc/guides/TribitsCoreDetailedReference.rst
@@ -483,6 +483,12 @@ These options are described below.
     set(${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT ON)
 
   in the `<projectDir>/ProjectName.cmake`_ file.
+
+  Note that if a ``git`` exectauble cannot be found at configure time, then
+  the default ``${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE_DEFAULT`` will be
+  overridden to ``OFF``.  But if the user sets
+  ``${PROJECT_NAME}_GENERATE_REPO_VERSION_FILE=ON`` in the cache and ``git``
+  can't be found, then an configure-time error will occur.
   
 .. _${PROJECT_NAME}_INSTALL_LIBRARIES_AND_HEADERS: