diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 5cb9ff714..25fa93930 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ deploy:
       branch: develop
       # Deploy only if we are in the official repo and
       # the local revision matches origin's head
-      condition: $TRAVIS_REPO_SLUG = $SPACEMACS_REPO_SLUG && $(git remote update) && $(git rev-parse '@') = $(git rev-parse '@{u}')
+      condition: $TRAVIS_REPO_SLUG = $SPACEMACS_REPO_SLUG && $(git remote update) && $(git rev-parse '@') = $(git rev-parse '@{u}') && $HAS_DOC_FIXES = true
   - provider: script
     skip_cleanup: true
     script: ".travisci/pub_html.sh"
diff --git a/.travisci/pub_org.sh b/.travisci/pub_org.sh
index f15183a6e..76d1310d2 100755
--- a/.travisci/pub_org.sh
+++ b/.travisci/pub_org.sh
@@ -33,12 +33,6 @@ if [ `git rev-list HEAD...origin/$TRAVIS_BRANCH --count` != 0 ]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-git config --global user.name "${BOT_NAME}"
-git config --global user.email "${BOT_EMAIL}"
-git config --global push.default simple
-git config --global hub.protocol https
-export GITHUB_TOKEN=$BOT_TK
-
 fold_start "CLONING_TARGET_REPOSITORY"
 target_URL="https://github.com/${SPACEMACS_REPO_SLUG}.git"
 git clone "${target_URL}" -b "${TRAVIS_BRANCH}" "/tmp/${PUBLISH}"
@@ -48,22 +42,14 @@ if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 fold_end "CLONING_TARGET_REPOSITORY"
 
-fold_start "SELECTING_CHANGED_FILES"
-rsync -rv \
-      --include '*/' \
-      --include='*.org' \
-      --exclude='*' \
-      --prune-empty-dirs \
-      ~/.emacs.d/ \
-      "/tmp/${PUBLISH}"
+fold_start "APPLYING DOCUMENTATION PATCH"
 cd "/tmp/${PUBLISH}"
-/tmp/hub add --all
-/tmp/hub commit -m "documentation formatting: $(date -u)"
+git am < /tmp/docfmt.patch
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo "Nothing to commit - exiting."
-    exit 0
+    echo "Failed to apply documentation fixes patch"
+    exit 2
 fi
-fold_end "SELECTING_CHANGED_FILES"
+fold_end "APPLYING DOCUMENTATION PATCH"
 
 fold_start "PUSHING_CHANGES_TO_${BOT_NAME}/${PUBLISH}"
 /tmp/hub fork
diff --git a/.travisci/pub_prep.sh b/.travisci/pub_prep.sh
index 2525473f5..10c70b215 100755
--- a/.travisci/pub_prep.sh
+++ b/.travisci/pub_prep.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ printf  "Host  github.com\n" > ~/.ssh/config
 printf  "  StrictHostKeyChecking no\n" >> ~/.ssh/config
 printf  "  UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null\n" >> ~/.ssh/config
 
+git config --global user.name "${BOT_NAME}"
+git config --global user.email "${BOT_EMAIL}"
+git config --global push.default simple
+git config --global hub.protocol https
+export GITHUB_TOKEN=$BOT_TK
+
 fold_start "FORMATTING_DOCUMENTATION"
 docker run --rm \
        -v "${TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR}/.ci/spacedoc-cfg.edn":/opt/spacetools/spacedoc-cfg.edn \
@@ -35,6 +41,18 @@ if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 fold_end "FORMATTING_DOCUMENTATION"
 
+fold_start "CREATING_DOCUMENTATION_PATCH_FILE"
+git add --all
+git commit -m "documentation formatting: $(date -u)"
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "Nothing to commit - exiting."
+    exit 0
+fi
+export HAS_DOC_FIXES=true
+git format-patch -1 HEAD --stdout > /tmp/docfmt.patch
+cat /tmp/docfmt.patch
+fold_end "CREATING_DOCUMENTATION_PATCH_FILE"
+
 rm -rf ~/.emacs.d
 mv "${TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR}" ~/.emacs.d
 cd  ~/.emacs.d