diff --git a/platform/vcs-api/vcs-api-core/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/AirContentRevision.java b/platform/vcs-api/vcs-api-core/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/AirContentRevision.java
index e25f3da85c8b..9442cb2d0200 100644
--- a/platform/vcs-api/vcs-api-core/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/AirContentRevision.java
+++ b/platform/vcs-api/vcs-api-core/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/AirContentRevision.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 public interface AirContentRevision {
   boolean isBinary();
 
-  @Nullable
+  @NotNull
   String getContentAsString() throws VcsException;
 
   byte @Nullable [] getContentAsBytes() throws VcsException;
diff --git a/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/IdeaTextPatchBuilder.java b/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/IdeaTextPatchBuilder.java
index 25f942a716f7..5186feb0b34e 100644
--- a/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/IdeaTextPatchBuilder.java
+++ b/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/IdeaTextPatchBuilder.java
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
 import com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.FilePath;
+import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.VcsBundle;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.VcsException;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.changes.*;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.ex.PartialCommitHelper;
+import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.history.VcsRevisionNumber;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.impl.PartialChangesUtil;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vfs.VirtualFile;
 import com.intellij.util.BeforeAfter;
@@ -171,7 +173,7 @@ public final class IdeaTextPatchBuilder {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public String getContentAsString() {
+    public @NotNull String getContentAsString() {
       throw new IllegalStateException();
     }
 
@@ -213,8 +215,15 @@ public final class IdeaTextPatchBuilder {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public String getContentAsString() throws VcsException {
-      return myRevision.getContent();
+    public @NotNull String getContentAsString() throws VcsException {
+      String content = myRevision.getContent();
+      if (content == null) {
+        VcsRevisionNumber revisionNumber = myRevision.getRevisionNumber();
+        String revisionText = revisionNumber != VcsRevisionNumber.NULL ? revisionNumber.asString() : myRevision.toString();
+        throw new VcsException(VcsBundle.message("patch.failed.to.fetch.old.content.for.file.name.in.revision",
+                                                 myFilePath.getPath(), revisionText));
+      }
+      return content;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -263,7 +272,7 @@ public final class IdeaTextPatchBuilder {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public String getContentAsString() {
+    public @NotNull String getContentAsString() {
       return myContent;
     }
 
diff --git a/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/TextPatchBuilder.java b/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/TextPatchBuilder.java
index b68e05889244..67c0830d03ac 100644
--- a/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/TextPatchBuilder.java
+++ b/platform/vcs-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/diff/impl/patch/TextPatchBuilder.java
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.LineTokenizer;
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.text.StringUtil;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.FilePath;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.FileStatus;
-import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.VcsBundle;
 import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.VcsException;
 import com.intellij.util.BeforeAfter;
 import com.intellij.util.containers.ContainerUtil;
@@ -102,8 +101,8 @@ public final class TextPatchBuilder {
   @Nullable
   private TextFilePatch buildModifiedFile(@NotNull AirContentRevision beforeRevision,
                                           @NotNull AirContentRevision afterRevision) throws VcsException {
-    String beforeContent = getContent(beforeRevision);
-    String afterContent = getContent(afterRevision);
+    String beforeContent = beforeRevision.getContentAsString();
+    String afterContent = afterRevision.getContentAsString();
 
     TextFilePatch patch = buildPatchHeading(beforeRevision, afterRevision);
 
@@ -291,7 +290,7 @@ public final class TextPatchBuilder {
   private TextFilePatch buildAddedFile(@NotNull AirContentRevision afterRevision) throws VcsException {
     TextFilePatch result = buildPatchHeading(afterRevision, afterRevision);
     result.setFileStatus(FileStatus.ADDED);
-    String content = getContent(afterRevision);
+    String content = afterRevision.getContentAsString();
     if (!content.isEmpty()) {
       result.addHunk(createWholeFileHunk(content, true, false));
     }
@@ -302,7 +301,7 @@ public final class TextPatchBuilder {
   private TextFilePatch buildDeletedFile(@NotNull AirContentRevision beforeRevision) throws VcsException {
     TextFilePatch result = buildPatchHeading(beforeRevision, beforeRevision);
     result.setFileStatus(FileStatus.DELETED);
-    String content = getContent(beforeRevision);
+    String content = beforeRevision.getContentAsString();
     if (!content.isEmpty()) {
       result.addHunk(createWholeFileHunk(content, false, false));
     }
@@ -388,17 +387,6 @@ public final class TextPatchBuilder {
     return null;
   }
 
-  @NotNull
-  private static String getContent(@NotNull AirContentRevision revision) throws VcsException {
-    String beforeContent = revision.getContentAsString();
-    if (beforeContent == null) {
-      throw new VcsException(
-        VcsBundle.message("patch.failed.to.fetch.old.content.for.file.name.in.revision", revision.getPath().getPath(),
-                          revision.getRevisionNumber()));
-    }
-    return beforeContent;
-  }
-
   @NotNull
   private static List<String> tokenize(@NotNull String text) {
     return LineTokenizer.tokenizeIntoList(text, false, true);