diff --git a/dev-support/make_patch.sh b/dev-support/make_patch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..b48cc3bd6fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-support/make_patch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Make a patch for the current branch based on its tracking branch
+
+# Process args
+while getopts "ahd:" opt; do
+    case "$opt" in
+        a)  addendum='-addendum'
+            ;;
+        d)  
+    		patch_dir=$OPTARG
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo -e "Usage: $0 [-h] [-a] [-d] <directory> \n\
+        Must be run from within the git branch to make the patch against.\n\
+        -h - display these instructions.\n\
+    	-a - Add an 'addendum' prefix to the patch name.\n\
+    	-d - specify a patch directory (defaults to ~/patches/)"
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+# Find what branch we are on
+branch=$(git branch |grep '*' |awk '{print $2}')
+if [ ! "$branch" ]; then
+	echo "Can't determine the git branch. Exiting." >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+# Exit if git status is dirty
+git_dirty=$(git diff --shortstat 2> /dev/null | wc -l|awk {'print $1'})
+echo "git_dirty is $git_dirty"
+if [ "$git_dirty" -ne 0 ]; then  
+    echo "Git status is dirty. Commit locally first.">&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Determine the tracking branch
+git log -n 1 origin/$branch > /dev/null 2>&1
+status=$?
+if [ "$status" -eq 128 ]; then
+	# Status 128 means there is no remote branch
+	tracking_branch='origin/master'
+elif [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+	# Status 0 means there is a remote branch
+	tracking_branch="origin/$branch"
+else
+	echo "Unknown error: $?" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+# Deal with invalid or missing $patch_dir
+if [ ! "$patch_dir" ]; then
+    echo -e "Patch directory not specified. Falling back to ~/patches/."
+    patch_dir=~/patches
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d "$patch_dir" ]; then
+    echo "$patch_dir does not exist. Creating it."
+    mkdir $patch_dir
+fi
+
+# Determine what to call the patch
+# Check to see if any patch exists that includes the branch name
+status=$(ls $patch_dir/*$branch* 2>/dev/null|grep -v addendum|wc -l|awk {'print $1'})
+if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+	# This is the first patch we are making for this release
+	prefix=''
+elif  [ "$status" -ge 1 ]; then
+	# At least one patch already exists -- add a version prefix
+	for i in {1..99}; do
+		# Check to see the maximum version of patch that exists
+	   	if [ ! -f "$patch_dir/$branch-v$i.patch" ]; then
+	   		version=$i
+	   		if [ -n "$addendum" ]; then
+				# Don't increment the patch # if it is an addendum
+				echo "Creating an addendum"
+				if [ "$version" -eq 1 ]; then
+					# We are creating an addendum to the first version of the patch
+					prefix=''
+				else
+					# We are making an addendum to a different version of the patch
+					let version=$version-1
+					prefix="-v$version"
+				fi
+			else
+				prefix="-v$version"
+			fi
+			break
+	   	fi
+	done
+fi
+
+patch_name="$branch$prefix$addendum.patch"
+
+# Do we need to make a diff?
+git diff --quiet $tracking_branch
+status=$?
+if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo "There is no difference between $branch and $tracking_branch."
+	echo "No patch created."
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+# Check whether we need to squash or not
+local_commits=$(git log $tracking_branch..$branch|grep 'Author:'|wc -l|awk {'print $1'})
+if [ "$local_commits" -gt 1 ]; then
+	read -p "$local_commits commits exist only in your local branch. Interactive rebase?" yn
+    case $yn in
+        [Yy]* ) 
+    		git rebase -i $tracking_branch
+    			;;
+        [Nn]* ) 
+          echo "Creating $patch_dir/$patch_name using git diff."
+          git diff $tracking_branch > $patch_dir/$patch_name
+          exit 0
+        ;;
+    esac
+fi
+
+echo "Creating patch $patch_dir/$patch_name using git format-patch"
+git format-patch --stdout $tracking_branch > $patch_dir/$patch_name
+
+
diff --git a/src/main/docbkx/developer.xml b/src/main/docbkx/developer.xml
index ad946e5a979..89ed56f6c43 100644
--- a/src/main/docbkx/developer.xml
+++ b/src/main/docbkx/developer.xml
@@ -1829,7 +1829,6 @@ Bar bar = foo.getBar();     &lt;--- imagine there's an extra space(s) after the
                 <para>Make sure that you're clear about what you are testing in your unit tests and
                     why. </para>
             </section>
-
         </section>
         <!--  patch feedback -->
 
@@ -1867,6 +1866,7 @@ Bar bar = foo.getBar();     &lt;--- imagine there's an extra space(s) after the
             <title>Submitting incremental patches</title>
             <para> At times you may want to break a big change into mulitple patches. Here is a
                 sample work-flow using git <itemizedlist>
+
                     <listitem>
                         <para>patch 1:</para>
                         <itemizedlist>