diff --git a/paper b/paper
index 4d88796ee..5d9f746a8 100755
--- a/paper
+++ b/paper
@@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ case "$1" in
         cd "${PAPER_TEST_DIR:-$basedir/work/test-server}"
     ;;
     "u" | "up" | "upstream")
+    (
+        cd "$basedir"
         scripts/upstreamMerge.sh "$basedir" "$2"
+    )
     ;;
     "r" | "root")
         cd "$basedir"