diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/ArchiveCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/ArchiveCommand.php
index c305ce8da..9a97289f8 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/ArchiveCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/ArchiveCommand.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class ArchiveCommand extends Command
             ->setName('archive')
             ->setDescription('Create an archive of this composer package')
             ->setDefinition(array(
-                new InputArgument('package', InputArgument::REQUIRED, 'The package to archive'),
+                new InputArgument('package', InputArgument::OPTIONAL, 'The package to archive instead of the current project'),
                 new InputArgument('version', InputArgument::OPTIONAL, 'The package version to archive'),
                 new InputOption('format', 'f', InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED, 'Format of the resulting archive: tar or zip', 'tar'),
                 new InputOption('dir', false, InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED, 'Write the archive to this directory', '.'),
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ class ArchiveCommand extends Command
             ->setHelp(<<<EOT
 The <info>archive</info> command creates an archive of the specified format
 containing the files and directories of the Composer project or the specified
-package and writes it to the specified directory.
+package in the specified version and writes it to the specified directory.
 
-<info>php composer.phar archive [--format=zip] [--dir=/foo] package version</info>
+<info>php composer.phar archive [--format=zip] [--dir=/foo] [package] [version]</info>
 
 EOT
             )
@@ -64,16 +64,20 @@ EOT
         );
     }
 
-    public function archive(IOInterface $io, $packageName, $version = false, $format = 'tar', $dest = '.')
+    public function archive(IOInterface $io, $packageName = false, $version = false, $format = 'tar', $dest = '.')
     {
         $config = Factory::createConfig();
         $factory = new Factory;
         $archiveManager = $factory->createArchiveManager($config);
 
-        $package = $this->selectPackage($io, $packageName, $version);
+        if ($packageName) {
+            $package = $this->selectPackage($io, $packageName, $version);
 
-        if (!$package) {
-            return 1;
+            if (!$package) {
+                return 1;
+            }
+        } else {
+            $package = $this->getComposer()->getPackage();
         }
 
         $io->write('<info>Creating the archive.</info>');
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManager.php b/src/Composer/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManager.php
index c3a2c818e..66aefdba6 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManager.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManager.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Composer\Downloader\DownloadManager;
 use Composer\Factory;
 use Composer\IO\NullIO;
 use Composer\Package\PackageInterface;
+use Composer\Package\RootPackage;
 use Composer\Util\Filesystem;
 
 /**
@@ -73,19 +74,24 @@ class ArchiveManager
             throw new \RuntimeException(sprintf('No archiver found to support %s format', $format));
         }
 
-        // Directory used to download the sources
         $filesystem = new Filesystem();
         $packageName = preg_replace('#[^a-z0-9-_.]#i', '-', $package->getPrettyString());
-        $sourcePath = sys_get_temp_dir().'/composer_archiver/'.$packageName;
-        $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists($sourcePath);
 
         // Archive filename
         $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists($targetDir);
         $target = realpath($targetDir).'/'.$packageName.'.'.$format;
         $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists(dirname($target));
 
-        // Download sources
-        $this->downloadManager->download($package, $sourcePath, true);
+        if ($package instanceof RootPackage) {
+            $sourcePath = realpath('.');
+        } else {
+            // Directory used to download the sources
+            $sourcePath = sys_get_temp_dir().'/composer_archiver/'.$packageName;
+            $filesystem->ensureDirectoryExists($sourcePath);
+
+            // Download sources
+            $this->downloadManager->download($package, $sourcePath, true);
+        }
 
         // Create the archive
         $sourceRef = $package->getSourceReference();