diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f50c798d5..16c4ded5c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,23 +8,23 @@
 
 _Having problems? want to contribute? join our [community slack](http://devtoolscommunity.herokuapp.com)_.
 
-> stop using `npm version`, use `standard-version` it rocks!
 
-Automatic versioning and CHANGELOG generation, using GitHub's squash button and
+Automate versioning and CHANGELOG generation, with [semver](https://semver.org/) and
 [conventional commit messages](https://conventionalcommits.org).
 
 _how it works:_
 
 1. when you land commits on your `master` branch, select the _Squash and Merge_ option.
 2. add a title and body that follows the [Conventional Commits Specification](https://conventionalcommits.org).
-3. when you're ready to release to npm:
+3. when you're ready to release:
   1. `git checkout master; git pull origin master`
   2. run `standard-version`
-  3. `git push --follow-tags origin master && npm publish`
+  3. `git push --follow-tags origin master && npm publish
+    _(or, `docker push`, `gem push`, etc.)_
 
 `standard-version` does the following:
 
-1. bumps the version in _package.json/bower.json_ (based on your commit history)
+1. bumps the version in metadata files (package.json, composer.json, etc).
 2. uses [conventional-changelog](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/conventional-changelog) to update _CHANGELOG.md_
 3. commits _package.json (et al.)_ and _CHANGELOG.md_
 4. tags a new release
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ Simply add the following to your package.json to configure lifecycle scripts:
 }
 ```
 
-As an example to change from using GitHub to track your items to using your projects Jira use a 
+As an example to change from using GitHub to track your items to using your projects Jira use a
 `postchangelog` script to replace the url fragment containing 'https://github.com/`myproject`/issues/'
 with a link to your Jira - assuming you have already installed [replace](https://www.npmjs.com/package/replace)
 ```json
diff --git a/command.js b/command.js
index c571494fc..095f9650c 100755
--- a/command.js
+++ b/command.js
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ module.exports = require('yargs')
     default: defaults.dryRun,
     describe: 'See the commands that running standard-version would run'
   })
+  .option('git-tag-fallback', {
+    type: 'boolean',
+    default: defaults.gitTagFallback,
+    describe: `fallback to git tags for version, if no meta-information file is found (e.g., package.json)`
+  })
   .check((argv) => {
     if (typeof argv.scripts !== 'object' || Array.isArray(argv.scripts)) {
       throw Error('scripts must be an object')
diff --git a/defaults.json b/defaults.json
index 2834fb345..b70e54697 100644
--- a/defaults.json
+++ b/defaults.json
@@ -9,5 +9,6 @@
   "tagPrefix": "v",
   "scripts": {},
   "skip": {},
-  "dryRun": false
+  "dryRun": false,
+  "gitTagFallback": true
 }
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0c685e054..d8432b03c 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+const latestSemverTag = require('./lib/latest-semver-tag')
 const path = require('path')
 const printError = require('./lib/print-error')
 
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@ const commit = require('./lib/lifecycles/commit')
 const tag = require('./lib/lifecycles/tag')
 
 module.exports = function standardVersion (argv) {
-  var pkg
+  let pkg
   bump.pkgFiles.forEach((filename) => {
     if (pkg) return
     var pkgPath = path.resolve(process.cwd(), filename)
@@ -15,16 +16,25 @@ module.exports = function standardVersion (argv) {
       pkg = require(pkgPath)
     } catch (err) {}
   })
-  if (!pkg) {
-    return Promise.reject(new Error('no package file found'))
-  }
-  var newVersion = pkg.version
-  var defaults = require('./defaults')
-  var args = Object.assign({}, defaults, argv)
+  let newVersion
+  let defaults = require('./defaults')
+  let args = Object.assign({}, defaults, argv)
 
   return Promise.resolve()
     .then(() => {
-      return bump(args, pkg)
+      if (!pkg && args.gitTagFallback) {
+        return latestSemverTag()
+      } else if (!pkg) {
+        throw new Error('no package file found')
+      } else {
+        return pkg.version
+      }
+    })
+    .then(version => {
+      newVersion = version
+    })
+    .then(() => {
+      return bump(args, newVersion)
     })
     .then((_newVersion) => {
       // if bump runs, it calculaes the new version that we
@@ -36,7 +46,7 @@ module.exports = function standardVersion (argv) {
       return commit(args, newVersion)
     })
     .then(() => {
-      return tag(newVersion, pkg.private, args)
+      return tag(newVersion, pkg ? pkg.private : false, args)
     })
     .catch((err) => {
       printError(args, err.message)
diff --git a/lib/latest-semver-tag.js b/lib/latest-semver-tag.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c63ec42a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/latest-semver-tag.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+const gitSemverTags = require('git-semver-tags')
+const semver = require('semver')
+
+module.exports = function () {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    gitSemverTags(function (err, tags) {
+      if (err) return reject(err)
+      else if (!tags.length) return resolve('1.0.0')
+      // ensure that the largest semver tag is at the head.
+      tags = tags.map(tag => { return semver.clean(tag) })
+      tags.sort(semver.rcompare)
+      return resolve(tags[0])
+    })
+  })
+}
diff --git a/lib/lifecycles/bump.js b/lib/lifecycles/bump.js
index b5fe61219..7fa0857b8 100644
--- a/lib/lifecycles/bump.js
+++ b/lib/lifecycles/bump.js
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@ const writeFile = require('../write-file')
 
 var configsToUpdate = {}
 
-function Bump (args, pkg) {
+function Bump (args, version) {
   // reset the cache of updated config files each
   // time we perform the version bump step.
   configsToUpdate = {}
 
   if (args.skip.bump) return Promise.resolve()
-  var newVersion = pkg.version
+  var newVersion = version
   return runLifecycleScript(args, 'prerelease')
     .then(runLifecycleScript.bind(this, args, 'prebump'))
     .then((stdout) => {
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ function Bump (args, pkg) {
     })
     .then((release) => {
       if (!args.firstRelease) {
-        var releaseType = getReleaseType(args.prerelease, release.releaseType, pkg.version)
-        newVersion = semver.valid(releaseType) || semver.inc(pkg.version, releaseType, args.prerelease)
+        var releaseType = getReleaseType(args.prerelease, release.releaseType, version)
+        newVersion = semver.valid(releaseType) || semver.inc(version, releaseType, args.prerelease)
         updateConfigs(args, newVersion)
       } else {
         checkpoint(args, 'skip version bump on first release', [], chalk.red(figures.cross))
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index d579cd663..ec891f9a8 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
 
 'use strict'
 
-var shell = require('shelljs')
-var fs = require('fs')
-var path = require('path')
-var stream = require('stream')
-var mockGit = require('mock-git')
-var mockery = require('mockery')
-var semver = require('semver')
-var formatCommitMessage = require('./lib/format-commit-message')
-var cli = require('./command')
-var standardVersion = require('./index')
+const shell = require('shelljs')
+const fs = require('fs')
+const path = require('path')
+const stream = require('stream')
+const mockGit = require('mock-git')
+const mockery = require('mockery')
+const semver = require('semver')
+const formatCommitMessage = require('./lib/format-commit-message')
+const cli = require('./command')
+const standardVersion = require('./index')
 
 require('chai').should()
 
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ function writePackageJson (version, option) {
   option = option || {}
   var pkg = Object.assign(option, { version: version })
   fs.writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg), 'utf-8')
-  delete require.cache[require.resolve(path.join(process.cwd(), 'package.json'))]
 }
 
 function writeBowerJson (version, option) {
@@ -96,6 +95,16 @@ function initInTempFolder () {
   shell.cd('tmp')
   shell.exec('git init')
   commit('root-commit')
+  ;['package.json',
+    'manifest.json',
+    'bower.json'
+  ].forEach(metadata => {
+    try {
+      delete require.cache[require.resolve(path.join(process.cwd(), metadata))]
+    } catch (err) {
+      // we haven't loaded the metadata file yet.
+    }
+  })
   writePackageJson('1.0.0')
 }
 
@@ -746,7 +755,10 @@ describe('standard-version', function () {
   describe('without a package file to bump', function () {
     it('should exit with error', function () {
       shell.rm('package.json')
-      return require('./index')({ silent: true })
+      return require('./index')({
+        silent: true,
+        gitTagFallback: false
+      })
         .catch((err) => {
           err.message.should.equal('no package file found')
         })
@@ -886,4 +898,47 @@ describe('standard-version', function () {
         })
     })
   })
+
+  describe('.gitignore', () => {
+    beforeEach(function () {
+      writeBowerJson('1.0.0')
+    })
+
+    it('does not update files present in .gitignore', () => {
+      fs.writeFileSync('.gitignore', 'bower.json', 'utf-8')
+
+      commit('feat: first commit')
+      shell.exec('git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "my awesome first release"')
+      commit('feat: new feature!')
+      return require('./index')({ silent: true })
+        .then(() => {
+          JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('bower.json', 'utf-8')).version.should.equal('1.0.0')
+          getPackageVersion().should.equal('1.1.0')
+        })
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('gitTagFallback', () => {
+    it('defaults to 1.0.0 if no tags in git history', () => {
+      shell.rm('package.json')
+      commit('feat: first commit')
+      return require('./index')({ silent: true })
+        .then(() => {
+          const output = shell.exec('git tag')
+          output.stdout.should.include('v1.1.0')
+        })
+    })
+
+    it('bases version on last tag, if tags are found', () => {
+      shell.rm('package.json')
+      shell.exec('git tag -a v5.0.0 -m "a release"')
+      shell.exec('git tag -a v3.0.0 -m "another release"')
+      commit('feat: another commit')
+      return require('./index')({ silent: true })
+        .then(() => {
+          const output = shell.exec('git tag')
+          output.stdout.should.include('v5.1.0')
+        })
+    })
+  })
 })