diff --git a/build/apply-patches b/build/apply-patches
index c15cdf6fb..31c2adcfd 100755
--- a/build/apply-patches
+++ b/build/apply-patches
@@ -51,9 +51,11 @@ fi
 
 CHANGED_FILES=$(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no)
 
-if [ \( -s "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE" \) -a  \( -n "$CHANGED_FILES" \) ] ; then
-  echo "Patches appear to have been applied already"
-  exit 0
+if [ \( -s "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE" \) -a  \( -n "$CHANGED_FILES" \) ] ; then 
+  if git apply -R --check "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE" ; then
+    echo "Patches appear to have been applied already"
+    exit 0
+  fi
 fi
 
 if [ -n "$CHANGED_FILES" ] ; then
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ fi
 
 find "$PATCH_DIR" -maxdepth 1 -type f -print0 | sort -zV | while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
   echo "patching with: $file"
-  patch --no-backup-if-mismatch -f -t --reject-file=- -p1 -i "$file"
+  git apply -v "$file"
 done
 
 git diff > "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"
diff --git a/build/unapply-patches b/build/unapply-patches
index aec14f1c3..a31708e25 100755
--- a/build/unapply-patches
+++ b/build/unapply-patches
@@ -52,18 +52,23 @@ fi
 CHANGED_FILES=$(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no)
 
 if [ \( -s "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE" \) -a  \( -n "$CHANGED_FILES" \) ] ; then
-  echo "Patches appear to have been applied, so going to remove them"
-  patch -R --no-backup-if-mismatch -f -t --reject-file=- -p1 -i "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"
-  rm -f "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"
-
-  # Check for modifications, again
-  if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no)" ] ; then
-    echo "Error: CUDF repository has uncommitted changes. You might want to clean in manually if you know that is expected"
-    git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no
+  if git apply --check -R "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"; then
+    echo "Patches appear to have been applied, so going to remove them"
+    git apply -R -v "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"
+    rm -f "$FULLY_PATCHED_FILE"
+
+    # Check for modifications, again
+    if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no)" ] ; then
+      echo "Error: CUDF repository has uncommitted changes. You might want to clean in manually if you know that is expected"
+      git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no
+      exit 1
+    fi
+
+    exit 0
+  else
+    echo "Files are changed, but in a way where the full path file does not apply to remove them $FULL_PATCHED_FILE"
     exit 1
   fi
-
-  exit 0
 fi
 
 if [ -n "$CHANGED_FILES" ] ; then
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e851fbb10..a50feefb2 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
     <submodule.check.skip>false</submodule.check.skip>
     <!-- This skips applying and unapplying patchs to CUDF. Be aware that if you 
     try to build the main jar without patching CUDF it could result in build
-    failures becasue the two often need to be in sync with each other. So use
+    failures because the two often need to be in sync with each other. So use
     at your own risk. -->
     <submodule.patch.skip>false</submodule.patch.skip>
     <antrun.version>3.0.0</antrun.version>