diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
index 4d9e80f38d..044030efad 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
@@ -913,7 +913,7 @@ class MercurialDownloadStrategy < VCSDownloadStrategy
   end
 
   def last_commit
-    Utils.popen_read("hg", "parent", "--template", "{node}", "-R", cached_location.to_s)
+    Utils.popen_read("hg", "parent", "--template", "{node|short}", "-R", cached_location.to_s)
   end
 
   private