diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eaeb386..ca764d4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Makefile for constructing RPMs.
 
-SHELL := bash
+SHELL := /bin/bash 
 .SHELLFLAGS := -eu -o pipefail -c
 NAME = cephadm
 DIST ?= el8
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ echo: pre  ## Print the passed (or computed) parameters
 	@echo RELEASE $(RELEASE)
 
 patch: pre ## Build the latest patch
-	 git diff $(PWD)/SOURCES/cephadm > $(PWD)/SOURCES/cephadm-$(VERSION)-$(RELEASE).patch
+	@git diff $(PWD)/SOURCES/cephadm > $(PWD)/SOURCES/cephadm-$(VERSION)-$(RELEASE).patch \
+	$(eval SIZE := $(shell find SOURCES -name cephadm-$(VERSION)-$(RELEASE).patch -printf "%k"))
+	@if [[ $(SIZE) -eq 0 ]]; then \
+	   rm -f $(PWD)/SOURCES/cephadm-$(VERSION)-$(RELEASE).patch; \
+	fi \
 
 spec: pre  ## Patch and build the cephadm spec file
 	sed SPECS/cephadm.spec.in \