diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index eb5c02d5..a172d850 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -3932,6 +3932,8 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                         help='do not fail if the source or target project/package does not exist on the server')
     @cmdln.option('-u', '--unexpand', action='store_true',
                         help='diff unexpanded version if sources are linked')
+    @cmdln.option('--xml', action='store_true',
+                        help='show diff as xml (only for issues diff)')
     def do_rdiff(self, subcmd, opts, *args):
         """${cmd_name}: Server-side "pretty" diff of two packages
 
@@ -4009,9 +4011,10 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                             new_project, new_package, rev2, not opts.plain, opts.missingok,
                             meta=opts.meta,
                             expand=not opts.unexpand,
-                            onlyissues=opts.issues_only)
+                            onlyissues=opts.issues_only,
+                            xml=opts.xml)
         if opts.issues_only:
-            print(rdiff)
+            print(decode_it(rdiff))
         else:
             run_pager(rdiff)
 
diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index 05ae3f19..53864adc 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -4822,7 +4822,7 @@ def get_source_file_diff(dir, filename, rev, oldfilename = None, olddir = None,
 def server_diff(apiurl,
                 old_project, old_package, old_revision,
                 new_project, new_package, new_revision,
-                unified=False, missingok=False, meta=False, expand=True, onlyissues=False, full=True):
+                unified=False, missingok=False, meta=False, expand=True, onlyissues=False, full=True, xml=False):
     query = {'cmd': 'diff'}
     if expand:
         query['expand'] = 1
@@ -4850,24 +4850,34 @@ def server_diff(apiurl,
 
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['source', new_project, new_package], query=query)
     f = http_POST(u)
-    if onlyissues:
-        issue_list = []
+    if onlyissues and not xml:
+        del_issue_list = []
+        add_issue_list = []
+        chn_issue_list = []
         root = ET.fromstring(f.read())
         node = root.find('issues')
         for issuenode in node.findall('issue'):
-            issue_list.append(issuenode.get('label'))
-        return '\n'.join(issue_list)
+            if issuenode.get('state') == 'deleted':
+                del_issue_list.append(issuenode.get('label'))
+            elif issuenode.get('state') == 'added':
+                add_issue_list.append(issuenode.get('label'))
+            else:
+                chn_issue_list.append(issuenode.get('label'))
+        string = 'added:\n----------\n' + '\n'.join(add_issue_list) + \
+            '\n\nchanged:\n----------\n' + '\n'.join(chn_issue_list) + \
+            '\n\ndeleted:\n----------\n' + '\n'.join(del_issue_list)
+        return string
     return f.read()
 
 def server_diff_noex(apiurl,
                 old_project, old_package, old_revision,
                 new_project, new_package, new_revision,
-                unified=False, missingok=False, meta=False, expand=True, onlyissues=False):
+                unified=False, missingok=False, meta=False, expand=True, onlyissues=False, xml=False):
     try:
         return server_diff(apiurl,
                             old_project, old_package, old_revision,
                             new_project, new_package, new_revision,
-                            unified, missingok, meta, expand, onlyissues)
+                            unified, missingok, meta, expand, onlyissues, True, xml)
     except HTTPError as e:
         msg = None
         body = None