diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index bdc358c07e..faf204d2b8 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -5,17 +5,17 @@ DIE=0
 package=gst-plugins-base
 srcfile=gst/sine/gstsinesrc.c
 
-# a quick cvs co if necessary to alleviate the pain - may remove this
-# when developers get a clue ;)
-if test ! -d common; 
-then 
+# a quick cvs co to ease the transition
+if test ! -d common;
+then
   echo "+ getting common/ from cvs"
-  cvs co common 
+  if test -e CVS/Tag
+  then
+    TAG="-r `tail -c +2 CVS/Tag`"
+  fi
+  cvs co $TAG common
 fi
 
-# ensure that we have the dirs we put ext libs in to appease automake
-mkdir -p gst-libs/ext/ffmpeg/ffmpeg
-
 # source helper functions
 if test ! -f common/gst-autogen.sh;
 then