Index: C:/workspace/Maven-assembly-trunk2/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/assembly/format/FileSetFormatter.java
===================================================================
--- C:/workspace/Maven-assembly-trunk2/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/assembly/format/FileSetFormatter.java	(revision 691937)
+++ C:/workspace/Maven-assembly-trunk2/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/assembly/format/FileSetFormatter.java	(working copy)
@@ -57,7 +57,16 @@
 
             FileSet fileSet = new FileSet();
             fileSet.setLineEnding( lineEnding );
-            fileSet.setDirectory( set.getDirectory() );
+            
+            if(set.getDirectory() == null)
+            {
+            	fileSet.setDirectory(archiveBaseDir.getAbsolutePath());
+            }
+            else
+            {
+            	fileSet.setDirectory( set.getDirectory() );
+            }
+                        
             fileSet.setIncludes( set.getIncludes() );
 
             fileSet.setExcludes( set.getExcludes() );