diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8a379adeb..a24ba1af7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -280,21 +280,10 @@ set(OPENCV_EXTRA_MODULES_PATH "" CACHE PATH "Where to look for additional OpenCV
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #  Autodetect if we are in a GIT repository
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+find_package(Git QUIET)
 
-# don't use FindGit because it requires CMake 2.8.2
-set(git_names git eg) # eg = easy git
-# Prefer .cmd variants on Windows unless running in a Makefile in the MSYS shell
-if(CMAKE_HOST_WIN32)
-  if(NOT CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "MSYS")
-    set(git_names git.cmd git eg.cmd eg)
-  endif()
-endif()
-
-find_host_program(GIT_EXECUTABLE NAMES ${git_names} PATH_SUFFIXES Git/cmd Git/bin DOC "git command line client")
-mark_as_advanced(GIT_EXECUTABLE)
-
-if(GIT_EXECUTABLE)
-  execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} describe --tags --always --dirty --match "2.[0-9].[0-9]*"
+if(GIT_FOUND)
+  execute_process(COMMAND "${GIT_EXECUTABLE}" describe --tags --always --dirty --match "2.[0-9].[0-9]*"
     WORKING_DIRECTORY "${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}"
     OUTPUT_VARIABLE OPENCV_VCSVERSION
     RESULT_VARIABLE GIT_RESULT