diff --git a/meta/classes/archiver.bbclass b/meta/classes/archiver.bbclass
index fb0c77d954..0938c992de 100644
--- a/meta/classes/archiver.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/archiver.bbclass
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@ python () {
 
     if ar_src == "original":
         d.appendVarFlag('do_deploy_archives', 'depends', ' %s:do_ar_original' % pn)
+        # 'patched' and 'configured' invoke do_unpack_and_patch because
+        # do_ar_patched resp. do_ar_configured depend on it, but for 'original'
+        # we have to add it explicitly.
+        if d.getVarFlag('ARCHIVER_MODE', 'diff') == '1':
+            d.appendVarFlag('do_deploy_archives', 'depends', ' %s:do_unpack_and_patch' % pn)
     elif ar_src == "patched":
         d.appendVarFlag('do_deploy_archives', 'depends', ' %s:do_ar_patched' % pn)
     elif ar_src == "configured":
@@ -285,11 +290,16 @@ def create_diff_gz(d, src_orig, src, ar_outdir):
 
     dirname = os.path.dirname(src)
     basename = os.path.basename(src)
-    os.chdir(dirname)
-    out_file = os.path.join(ar_outdir, '%s-diff.gz' % d.getVar('PF'))
-    diff_cmd = 'diff -Naur %s.orig %s.patched | gzip -c > %s' % (basename, basename, out_file)
-    subprocess.call(diff_cmd, shell=True)
-    bb.utils.remove(src_patched, recurse=True)
+    bb.utils.mkdirhier(ar_outdir)
+    cwd = os.getcwd()
+    try:
+        os.chdir(dirname)
+        out_file = os.path.join(ar_outdir, '%s-diff.gz' % d.getVar('PF'))
+        diff_cmd = 'diff -Naur %s.orig %s.patched | gzip -c > %s' % (basename, basename, out_file)
+        subprocess.check_call(diff_cmd, shell=True)
+        bb.utils.remove(src_patched, recurse=True)
+    finally:
+        os.chdir(cwd)
 
 # Run do_unpack and do_patch
 python do_unpack_and_patch() {