diff --git a/dev-support/smart-apply-patch.sh b/dev-support/smart-apply-patch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..74a7128fb51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-support/smart-apply-patch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+#   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+#   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+#   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+#   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+#   limitations under the License.
+
+set -e
+
+PATCH_FILE=$1
+if [ -z "$PATCH_FILE" ]; then
+  echo usage: $0 patch-file
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+PATCH=${PATCH:-patch} # allow overriding patch binary
+
+# Cleanup handler for temporary files
+TOCLEAN=""
+cleanup() {
+  rm $TOCLEAN
+  exit $1
+}
+trap "cleanup 1" HUP INT QUIT TERM
+
+# Allow passing "-" for stdin patches
+if [ "$PATCH_FILE" == "-" ]; then
+  PATCH_FILE=/tmp/tmp.in.$$
+  cat /dev/fd/0 > $PATCH_FILE
+  TOCLEAN="$TOCLEAN $PATCH_FILE"
+fi
+
+# Come up with a list of changed files into $TMP
+TMP=/tmp/tmp.paths.$$
+TOCLEAN="$TOCLEAN $TMP"
+
+if $PATCH -p0 -E --dry-run < $PATCH_FILE 2>&1 > $TMP; then
+  PLEVEL=0
+  #if the patch applied at P0 there is the possability that all we are doing
+  # is adding new files and they would apply anywhere. So try to guess the
+  # correct place to put those files.
+
+  TMP2=/tmp/tmp.paths.2.$$
+  TOCLEAN="$TOCLEAN $TMP2"
+
+  grep '^patching file ' $TMP | awk '{print $3}' | grep -v /dev/null | sort | uniq > $TMP2
+
+  #first off check that all of the files do not exist
+  FOUND_ANY=0
+  for CHECK_FILE in $(cat $TMP2)
+  do
+    if [[ -f $CHECK_FILE ]]; then
+      FOUND_ANY=1
+    fi
+  done
+
+  if [[ "$FOUND_ANY" = "0" ]]; then
+    #all of the files are new files so we have to guess where the correct place to put it is.
+
+    # if all of the lines start with a/ or b/, then this is a git patch that
+    # was generated without --no-prefix
+    if ! grep -qv '^a/\|^b/' $TMP2 ; then
+      echo Looks like this is a git patch. Stripping a/ and b/ prefixes
+      echo and incrementing PLEVEL
+      PLEVEL=$[$PLEVEL + 1]
+      sed -i -e 's,^[ab]/,,' $TMP2
+    fi
+  fi
+elif $PATCH -p1 -E --dry-run < $PATCH_FILE 2>&1 > /dev/null; then
+  PLEVEL=1
+elif $PATCH -p2 -E --dry-run < $PATCH_FILE 2>&1 > /dev/null; then
+  PLEVEL=2
+else
+  echo "The patch does not appear to apply with p0 to p2";
+  cleanup 1;
+fi
+
+echo Going to apply patch with: $PATCH -p$PLEVEL
+$PATCH -p$PLEVEL -E < $PATCH_FILE
+
+cleanup $?
diff --git a/dev-support/test-patch.sh b/dev-support/test-patch.sh
index bdef3ab6a4f..71ed936bac9 100755
--- a/dev-support/test-patch.sh
+++ b/dev-support/test-patch.sh
@@ -334,7 +334,8 @@ applyPatch () {
   echo ""
   echo ""
  
-  $PATCH -p0 -E < $PATCH_DIR/patch
+  export PATCH
+  $BASEDIR/dev-support/smart-apply-patch.sh $PATCH_DIR/patch
   if [[ $? != 0 ]] ; then
     echo "PATCH APPLICATION FAILED"
     JIRA_COMMENT="$JIRA_COMMENT