diff --git a/scripts/unpack-zulip b/scripts/unpack-zulip
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..4215d9bd21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/unpack-zulip
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python -u
+import os
+import sys
+import subprocess
+import datetime
+import tempfile
+
+sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
+from zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, TIMESTAMP_FORMAT, FAIL, ENDC
+
+if len(sys.argv) != 2:
+    print FAIL + "Usage: %s <tarball>" % (sys.argv[0],) + ENDC
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+tarball_path = sys.argv[1]
+
+timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime(TIMESTAMP_FORMAT)
+deploy_path = os.path.join(DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, timestamp)
+
+extract_path = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+subprocess.check_call(["tar", "-xf", tarball_path, "-C", extract_path])
+subprocess.check_call(["mv", os.path.join(extract_path, "zulip-server"), deploy_path])
+subprocess.check_call(["rmdir", extract_path])
+
+print deploy_path
+sys.exit(0)
diff --git a/scripts/upgrade-zulip b/scripts/upgrade-zulip
index 0a77112b89..834cd81a26 100755
--- a/scripts/upgrade-zulip
+++ b/scripts/upgrade-zulip
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import logging
 import datetime
 import shutil
 import time
-import tempfile
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
 from zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, LOCK_DIR, TIMESTAMP_FORMAT, FAIL, WARNING, ENDC
@@ -20,8 +19,6 @@ if len(sys.argv) != 2:
 
 tarball_path = sys.argv[1]
 
-subprocess.check_call(["mkdir", '-p', DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, '/home/zulip/logs'])
-
 start_time = time.time()
 got_lock = False
 while time.time() - start_time < 300:
@@ -46,14 +43,12 @@ timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime(TIMESTAMP_FORMAT)
 deploy_path = os.path.join(DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, timestamp)
 
 logging.info("Unpacking the tarball")
-extract_path = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-subprocess.check_call(["tar", "-xf", tarball_path, "-C", extract_path])
-subprocess.check_call(["mv", os.path.join(extract_path, "zulip-server"), deploy_path])
-subprocess.check_call(["rmdir", extract_path])
-os.chdir(deploy_path)
+deploy_path = subprocess.check_output([os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'unpack-zulip'),
+                                       tarball_path])
+os.chdir(deploy_path.strip())
 
 logging.info("Restarting server...")
-subprocess.check_call(["./scripts/restart-server"])
+subprocess.check_output(["./scripts/restart-server"])
 
 logging.info("Deployment complete")
 shutil.rmtree(LOCK_DIR)