diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a0cf52b..730ea3f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 .rbenv-version
+.bundle
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 72d531c..4252daf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -94,6 +94,13 @@ You may override the time format in `config/deploy.rb`:
 set :deploytag_time_format, "%Y.%m.%d-%H%M%S-utc"
 ```
 
+Customizing the Tag Commit Message
+----------------------------------
+By default, Capistrano Deploytags will create a tag with a message that indicates
+the local user name on the box where the deployment is done, and the hash of the
+tagged commit. If you prefer to have a more detailed commit message you may override
+the `:deploytag_commit_message` setting from your `deploy.rb` or on the command line
+with `-S deploytag_commit_message='This is my commit message for the deployed tag'`.
 
 Viewing Deployment History
 --------------------------
@@ -107,7 +114,6 @@ dev-2013.07.22-114437 gavin deployed 776e15414 to dev
 dev-2013.07.22-115103 karl deployed 619ff5724 to dev
 dev-2013.07.22-144121 joshmyers deployed cf1ed1a02 to dev
 ```
-
 A little use of `grep` and you can easily get the history for a
 particular (e.g. `git tag -l -n1 | grep dev`).
 
@@ -137,9 +143,9 @@ supplying `-S branch=<new branch>` as arguments to Capistrano.
 
 Running from Jenkins
 --------------------
-Because Jenkins will check out the code with the current revision 
-number you will be in a detached state. This causes the plugin to be 
-unhappy about the git tree. The solution is to add `-S branch=$GIT_COMMIT` 
+Because Jenkins will check out the code with the current revision
+number you will be in a detached state. This causes the plugin to be
+unhappy about the git tree. The solution is to add `-S branch=$GIT_COMMIT`
 to the cap deploy line called from your Jenkins build. This will cause
 the diffs and comparisons done by the deploytags gem to be correct.
 
diff --git a/lib/capistrano/deploy_tags.rb b/lib/capistrano/deploy_tags.rb
index 0febdca..7ba2c4a 100644
--- a/lib/capistrano/deploy_tags.rb
+++ b/lib/capistrano/deploy_tags.rb
@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ module Capistrano
       exists?(:git_remote) ? git_remote : `git remote`.strip.split(/\n/).first
     end
 
+    def commit_message(current_sha)
+      if exists?(:deploytag_commit_message)
+        deploytag_commit_message
+      else
+        tag_user = (ENV['USER'] || ENV['USERNAME'] || 'deployer').strip
+        "#{tag_user} deployed #{current_sha} to #{stage}"
+      end
+    end
+
     def self.load_into(configuration)
       configuration.load do
         before 'deploy', 'git:prepare_tree'
@@ -78,8 +87,7 @@ module Capistrano
             current_sha = `git rev-parse #{branch} HEAD`.strip[0..8]
             logger.log Capistrano::Logger::INFO, "Tagging #{current_sha} for deployment"
 
-            tag_user = (ENV['USER'] || ENV['USERNAME']).strip
-            cdt.safe_run 'git', 'tag', '-a', cdt.git_tag_for(stage), '-m', "#{tag_user} deployed #{current_sha} to #{stage}"
+            cdt.safe_run 'git', 'tag', '-a', cdt.git_tag_for(stage), '-m', cdt.commit_message(current_sha)
             cdt.safe_run 'git', 'push', '--tags' if cdt.has_remote?
           end
         end
diff --git a/spec/capistrano_deploy_tags_spec.rb b/spec/capistrano_deploy_tags_spec.rb
index f27d21c..7006ab4 100644
--- a/spec/capistrano_deploy_tags_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/capistrano_deploy_tags_spec.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ describe Capistrano::DeployTags do
     FileUtils.rm_rf tmpdir
     FileUtils.mkdir tmpdir
     FileUtils.chdir tmpdir
-    raise unless system("/usr/bin/tar xzf #{File.join(mypath, 'fixtures', 'git-fixture.tar.gz')}")
+    raise unless system("`which tar` xzf #{File.join(mypath, 'fixtures', 'git-fixture.tar.gz')}")
     FileUtils.chdir "#{tmpdir}/git-fixture"
     yield
     FileUtils.rm_rf tmpdir
@@ -135,5 +135,15 @@ describe Capistrano::DeployTags do
         tags.first.should =~ /^test-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/
       end
     end
+
+    it 'supports configurable commit messages' do
+      with_clean_repo do
+        configuration.set(:deploytag_commit_message, 'This is my custom commit message')
+        configuration.find_and_execute_task('git:tagdeploy')
+        tags = `git tag -l -n40`.split(/\n/)
+        tags.should have(1).items
+        tags.first.should =~ /This is my custom commit message/
+      end
+    end
   end
 end