diff --git a/Lib/distutils/archive_util.py b/Lib/distutils/archive_util.py
index d051f917bb4..28e93fed78a 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/archive_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/archive_util.py
@@ -232,10 +232,11 @@ def make_archive(base_name, format, root_dir=None, base_dir=None, verbose=0,
         kwargs['owner'] = owner
         kwargs['group'] = group
 
-    filename = func(base_name, base_dir, **kwargs)
-
-    if root_dir is not None:
-        log.debug("changing back to '%s'", save_cwd)
-        os.chdir(save_cwd)
+    try:
+        filename = func(base_name, base_dir, **kwargs)
+    finally:
+        if root_dir is not None:
+            log.debug("changing back to '%s'", save_cwd)
+            os.chdir(save_cwd)
 
     return filename
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
index 71d32dce191..682f19a2b34 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ from os.path import splitdrive
 import warnings
 
 from distutils.archive_util import (check_archive_formats, make_tarball,
-                                    make_zipfile, make_archive)
+                                    make_zipfile, make_archive,
+                                    ARCHIVE_FORMATS)
 from distutils.spawn import find_executable, spawn
 from distutils.tests import support
 from test.support import check_warnings
@@ -262,6 +263,20 @@ class ArchiveUtilTestCase(support.TempdirManager,
         finally:
             archive.close()
 
+    def test_make_archive_cwd(self):
+        current_dir = os.getcwd()
+        def _breaks(*args, **kw):
+            raise RuntimeError()
+        ARCHIVE_FORMATS['xxx'] = (_breaks, [], 'xxx file')
+        try:
+            try:
+                make_archive('xxx', 'xxx', root_dir=self.mkdtemp())
+            except:
+                pass
+            self.assertEquals(os.getcwd(), current_dir)
+        finally:
+            del ARCHIVE_FORMATS['xxx']
+
 def test_suite():
     return unittest.makeSuite(ArchiveUtilTestCase)
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 8830b7d9b6e..e8e0a4abbd1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -1143,6 +1143,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #7066: archive_util.make_archive now restores the cwd if an error is 
+  raised. Initial patch by Ezio Melotti.
+
 - Issue #6516: Added owner/group support when creating tar archives in
   Distutils.