diff --git a/scripts/diffcheck.sh b/scripts/diffcheck.sh
index aa9f557cf2..0832e7d252 100755
--- a/scripts/diffcheck.sh
+++ b/scripts/diffcheck.sh
@@ -2,15 +2,18 @@
 
 scripts/buildtable.pl >/tmp/table.mediawiki 2> /dev/null
 diff README.mediawiki /tmp/table.mediawiki | grep '^[<>] |' >/tmp/after.diff || true
+ORIGINAL_HEAD=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 if git checkout HEAD^ && scripts/buildtable.pl >/tmp/table.mediawiki 2>/dev/null; then
     diff README.mediawiki /tmp/table.mediawiki | grep '^[<>] |' >/tmp/before.diff || true
     newdiff=$(diff -s /tmp/before.diff /tmp/after.diff -u | grep '^+')
+    git checkout "$ORIGINAL_HEAD" >/dev/null 2>&1
     if [ -n "$newdiff" ]; then
         echo "$newdiff"
         exit 1
     fi
     echo "README table matches expected table from BIP files"
 else
+    git checkout "$ORIGINAL_HEAD" >/dev/null 2>&1
     echo 'Cannot build previous commit table for comparison'
     exit 1
 fi