diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 9bad0aca..0a7b7ede 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ async function run(context, plugins) {
     nextRelease.notes = await plugins.generateNotes({...context, commits, lastRelease, nextRelease});
 
     logger.log('Create tag %s', nextRelease.gitTag);
-    await tag(nextRelease.gitTag, nextRelease.gitHead, {cwd, env});
+    await tag(nextRelease, {cwd, env});
     await push(options.repositoryUrl, {cwd, env});
     context.branch.tags.push({
       version: nextRelease.version,
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ async function run(context, plugins) {
     logger.warn(`Skip ${nextRelease.gitTag} tag creation in dry-run mode`);
   } else {
     // Create the tag before calling the publish plugins as some require the tag to exists
-    await tag(nextRelease.gitTag, nextRelease.gitHead, {cwd, env});
+    await tag(nextRelease, {cwd, env});
     await push(options.repositoryUrl, {cwd, env});
     logger.success(`Created tag ${nextRelease.gitTag}`);
   }
diff --git a/lib/definitions/constants.js b/lib/definitions/constants.js
index 491a1a71..9de9d957 100644
--- a/lib/definitions/constants.js
+++ b/lib/definitions/constants.js
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ const SECRET_REPLACEMENT = '[secure]';
 
 const SECRET_MIN_SIZE = 5;
 
+const TAG_MESSAGE_FORMAT = `release \${version}`;
+
 module.exports = {
   RELEASE_TYPE,
   FIRST_RELEASE,
@@ -23,4 +25,5 @@ module.exports = {
   RELEASE_NOTES_SEPARATOR,
   SECRET_REPLACEMENT,
   SECRET_MIN_SIZE,
+  TAG_MESSAGE_FORMAT,
 };
diff --git a/lib/git.js b/lib/git.js
index 4f53ed78..ef7ac9e2 100644
--- a/lib/git.js
+++ b/lib/git.js
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-const {matches, pick, memoize} = require('lodash');
+const {matches, pick, memoize, template} = require('lodash');
 const gitLogParser = require('git-log-parser');
 const getStream = require('get-stream');
 const execa = require('execa');
 const debug = require('debug')('semantic-release:git');
+const {TAG_MESSAGE_FORMAT} = require('./definitions/constants');
 
 Object.assign(gitLogParser.fields, {hash: 'H', message: 'B', gitTags: 'd', committerDate: {key: 'ci', type: Date}});
 
@@ -222,14 +223,17 @@ async function verifyAuth(repositoryUrl, branch, execaOpts) {
 /**
  * Tag the commit head on the local repository.
  *
- * @param {String} tagName The name of the tag.
- * @param {String} ref The Git reference to tag.
+ * @param {Object} release The release associated with the tag.
  * @param {Object} [execaOpts] Options to pass to `execa`.
  *
  * @throws {Error} if the tag creation failed.
  */
-async function tag(tagName, ref, execaOpts) {
-  await execa('git', ['tag', tagName, ref], execaOpts);
+async function tag(release, execaOpts) {
+  await execa(
+    'git',
+    ['tag', release.gitTag, release.gitHead, '-a', '-m', template(TAG_MESSAGE_FORMAT)(release)],
+    execaOpts
+  );
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/git.test.js b/test/git.test.js
index d804966d..994a68dc 100644
--- a/test/git.test.js
+++ b/test/git.test.js
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ test('Add tag on head commit', async t => {
   const {cwd} = await gitRepo();
   const commits = await gitCommits(['Test commit'], {cwd});
 
-  await tag('tag_name', 'HEAD', {cwd});
+  await tag({gitTag: 'tag_name', gitHead: 'HEAD', version: '1.0.0'}, {cwd});
 
   await t.is(await gitCommitTag(commits[0].hash, {cwd}), 'tag_name');
 });
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ test('Push tag to remote repository', async t => {
   const {cwd, repositoryUrl} = await gitRepo(true);
   const commits = await gitCommits(['Test commit'], {cwd});
 
-  await tag('tag_name', 'HEAD', {cwd});
+  await tag({gitTag: 'tag_name', gitHead: 'HEAD', version: '1.0.0'}, {cwd});
   await push(repositoryUrl, {cwd});
 
   t.is(await gitRemoteTagHead(repositoryUrl, 'tag_name', {cwd}), commits[0].hash);
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ test('Push tag to remote repository with remote branch ahead', async t => {
   await gitCommits(['Second'], {cwd: tmpRepo});
   await gitPush('origin', 'master', {cwd: tmpRepo});
 
-  await tag('tag_name', 'HEAD', {cwd});
+  await tag({gitTag: 'tag_name', gitHead: 'HEAD', version: '1.0.0'}, {cwd});
   await push(repositoryUrl, {cwd});
 
   t.is(await gitRemoteTagHead(repositoryUrl, 'tag_name', {cwd}), commits[0].hash);
diff --git a/test/helpers/git-utils.js b/test/helpers/git-utils.js
index 7240fe1d..ba367358 100644
--- a/test/helpers/git-utils.js
+++ b/test/helpers/git-utils.js
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ export function gitTagHead(tagName, execaOpts) {
  * @return {String} The sha of the commit associated with `tagName` on the remote repository.
  */
 export async function gitRemoteTagHead(repositoryUrl, tagName, execaOpts) {
-  return (await execa.stdout('git', ['ls-remote', '--tags', repositoryUrl, tagName], execaOpts))
+  return (await execa.stdout('git', ['ls-remote', repositoryUrl, `${tagName}^{}`], execaOpts))
     .split('\n')
     .filter(tag => Boolean(tag))
     .map(tag => tag.match(/^(\S+)/)[1])[0];