diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
index d717485e8a1e..d62943fdde4c 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
@@ -1968,8 +1968,8 @@ def func_vcs_tag(self, node: mparser.BaseNode, args: T.List['TYPE_var'], kwargs:
             vcs = mesonlib.detect_vcs(source_dir)
             if vcs:
                 mlog.log('Found {} repository at {}'.format(vcs['name'], vcs['wc_dir']))
-                vcs_cmd = vcs['get_rev'].split()
-                regex_selector = vcs['rev_regex']
+                vcs_cmd = vcs.get_rev
+                regex_selector = vcs.rev_regex
             else:
                 vcs_cmd = [' '] # executing this cmd will fail in vcstagger.py and force to use the fallback string
         # vcstagger.py parameters: infile, outfile, fallback, source_dir, replace_string, regex_selector, command...
diff --git a/mesonbuild/utils/universal.py b/mesonbuild/utils/universal.py
index dc327373a759..cdd8e1956570 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/utils/universal.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/utils/universal.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 if T.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing_extensions import Literal, Protocol
+    from typing import TypedDict
 
     from .._typing import ImmutableListProtocol
     from ..build import ConfigurationData
@@ -756,40 +757,61 @@ def windows_detect_native_arch() -> str:
             raise EnvironmentException('Unable to detect native OS architecture')
     return arch
 
-def detect_vcs(source_dir: T.Union[str, Path]) -> T.Optional[T.Dict[str, str]]:
+class VcsData:
+    def __init__(self, *,
+                 name:str = '',
+                 cmd:str = '',
+                 repo_dir:str = '',
+                 get_rev: 'T.List[str]' = [''],
+                 rev_regex:str = '',
+                 dep:str = '',
+                 wc_dir:'T.Optional[str]' = None):
+        self.name:str = name
+        self.cmd:str = cmd
+        self.repo_dir:str = repo_dir
+        self.get_rev: 'T.List[str]' = get_rev
+        self.rev_regex: str = rev_regex
+        self.dep: str = dep
+        self.wc_dir: 'T.Optional[str]' = wc_dir
+
+def detect_vcs(source_dir: T.Union[str, Path]) -> 'VcsData':
     vcs_systems = [
-        {
-            'name': 'git',
-            'cmd': 'git',
-            'repo_dir': '.git',
-            'get_rev': 'git describe --dirty=+ --always',
-            'rev_regex': '(.*)',
-            'dep': '.git/logs/HEAD'
-        },
-        {
-            'name': 'mercurial',
-            'cmd': 'hg',
-            'repo_dir': '.hg',
-            'get_rev': 'hg id -i',
-            'rev_regex': '(.*)',
-            'dep': '.hg/dirstate'
-        },
-        {
-            'name': 'subversion',
-            'cmd': 'svn',
-            'repo_dir': '.svn',
-            'get_rev': 'svn info',
-            'rev_regex': 'Revision: (.*)',
-            'dep': '.svn/wc.db'
-        },
-        {
-            'name': 'bazaar',
-            'cmd': 'bzr',
-            'repo_dir': '.bzr',
-            'get_rev': 'bzr revno',
-            'rev_regex': '(.*)',
-            'dep': '.bzr'
-        },
+        VcsData(
+            name = 'git',
+            cmd =' git',
+            repo_dir = '.git',
+            get_rev = ['git', 'describe', '--dirty=+', '--always'],
+            rev_regex = '(.*)',
+            dep = '.git/logs/HEAD',
+            wc_dir = None,
+        ),
+        VcsData(
+            name = 'mercurial',
+            cmd = 'hg',
+            repo_dir = '.hg',
+            get_rev = ['hg', 'id', '-i'],
+            rev_regex = '(.*)',
+            dep= '.hg/dirstate',
+            wc_dir=None,
+        ),
+        VcsData(
+            name = 'subversion',
+            cmd = 'svn',
+            repo_dir = '.svn',
+            get_rev = ['svn', 'info'],
+            rev_regex = 'Revision: (.*)',
+            dep = '.svn/wc.db',
+            wc_dir = None,
+        ),
+        VcsData(
+            name = 'bazaar',
+            cmd = 'bzr',
+            repo_dir = '.bzr',
+            get_rev = ['bzr', 'revno'],
+            rev_regex = '(.*)',
+            dep = '.bzr',
+            wc_dir = None,
+        ),
     ]
     if isinstance(source_dir, str):
         source_dir = Path(source_dir)
@@ -800,8 +822,10 @@ def detect_vcs(source_dir: T.Union[str, Path]) -> T.Optional[T.Dict[str, str]]:
     parent_paths_and_self.appendleft(source_dir)
     for curdir in parent_paths_and_self:
         for vcs in vcs_systems:
-            if Path.is_dir(curdir.joinpath(vcs['repo_dir'])) and shutil.which(vcs['cmd']):
-                vcs['wc_dir'] = str(curdir)
+            repodir = vcs.repo_dir
+            cmd = vcs.cmd
+            if curdir.joinpath(repodir).is_dir() and shutil.which(cmd):
+                vcs.wc_dir = str(curdir)
                 return vcs
     return None