diff --git a/plugins/patchreview/patchreview.cpp b/plugins/patchreview/patchreview.cpp
--- a/plugins/patchreview/patchreview.cpp
+++ b/plugins/patchreview/patchreview.cpp
@@ -217,9 +217,12 @@
 
 void PatchReviewPlugin::forceUpdate() {
     if( m_patch ) {
-        m_patch->update();
-
-        notifyPatchChanged();
+        // don't trigger an update if we know the plugin cannot update itself
+        VCSDiffPatchSource *vcsPatch = dynamic_cast<VCSDiffPatchSource*>(m_patch.data());
+        if (!vcsPatch || vcsPatch->m_updater) {
+            m_patch->update();
+            notifyPatchChanged();
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/vcs/dvcs/ui/branchmanager.cpp b/vcs/dvcs/ui/branchmanager.cpp
--- a/vcs/dvcs/ui/branchmanager.cpp
+++ b/vcs/dvcs/ui/branchmanager.cpp
@@ -194,6 +194,47 @@
     }
 }
 
+// adapted from VCSStandardDiffUpdater
+class VCSBranchDiffUpdater : public VCSDiffUpdater {
+public:
+    VCSBranchDiffUpdater(const QString& repo, const QString& src, KDevelop::DistributedVersionControlPlugin* vcs);
+    ~VCSBranchDiffUpdater() override;
+    KDevelop::VcsDiff update() const override;
+    KDevelop::IBasicVersionControl* vcs() const override { return m_vcs; }
+    QUrl url() const override { return QUrl::fromLocalFile(m_repository); }
+private:
+    const QString m_repository;
+    const QString m_src;
+    KDevelop::DistributedVersionControlPlugin* m_vcs;
+};
+
+VCSBranchDiffUpdater::VCSBranchDiffUpdater(const QString& repo, const QString& src,
+        KDevelop::DistributedVersionControlPlugin* vcs)
+    : m_repository(repo)
+    , m_src(src)
+    , m_vcs(vcs)
+{
+}
+
+VCSBranchDiffUpdater::~VCSBranchDiffUpdater() {
+}
+
+VcsDiff VCSBranchDiffUpdater::update() const
+{
+    VcsRevision srcRev;
+    srcRev.setRevisionValue(m_src, KDevelop::VcsRevision::GlobalNumber);
+    // see comment in BranchManager::diffFromBranch()
+    const auto destRev = VcsRevision::createSpecialRevision(KDevelop::VcsRevision::Working);
+    QScopedPointer<VcsJob> diffJob(m_vcs->diff(QUrl::fromLocalFile(m_repository), srcRev, destRev));
+    const bool success = diffJob ? diffJob->exec() : false;
+    if (!success) {
+        KMessageBox::error(nullptr, i18n("Could not create a patch for the current version."));
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    return diffJob->fetchResults().value<VcsDiff>();
+}
+
 void BranchManager::diffFromBranch()
 {
     const auto dest = m_model->currentBranch();
@@ -234,7 +275,8 @@
         return;
     }
 
-    auto patch = new VCSDiffPatchSource(diff);
+    auto patch = new VCSDiffPatchSource(new VCSBranchDiffUpdater(m_repository,
+        m_ui->branchView->currentIndex().data().toString(), m_dvcPlugin));
     showVcsDiff(patch);
     close();
 }