diff --git a/it/compare-generation.ps1 b/it/compare-generation.ps1
index 718a5edee0..f7b6ab89c0 100755
--- a/it/compare-generation.ps1
+++ b/it/compare-generation.ps1
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ if ($firstGenerationProcess.ExitCode -ne 0 -or $secondGenerationProcess.ExitCode
 }
 
 # Remove variable output files
-Remove-Item (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder1 -ChildPath "kiota-lock.json")
+Remove-Item (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder1 -ChildPath "*/kiota-lock.json")
 if (Test-Path (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder1 -ChildPath ".kiota.log")) {
     Remove-Item -Force (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder1 -ChildPath ".kiota.log")
 }
-Remove-Item (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder2 -ChildPath "kiota-lock.json")
+Remove-Item (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder2 -ChildPath "*/kiota-lock.json")
 if (Test-Path (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder2 -ChildPath ".kiota.log")) {
     Remove-Item -Force (Join-Path -Path $tmpFolder2 -ChildPath ".kiota.log")
 }
diff --git a/src/Kiota.Builder/Configuration/GenerationConfiguration.cs b/src/Kiota.Builder/Configuration/GenerationConfiguration.cs
index eac80d47cd..b715c1e466 100644
--- a/src/Kiota.Builder/Configuration/GenerationConfiguration.cs
+++ b/src/Kiota.Builder/Configuration/GenerationConfiguration.cs
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public ConsumerOperation? Operation
     public string OpenAPIFilePath { get; set; } = "openapi.yaml";
     public string ApiManifestPath { get; set; } = "apimanifest.json";
     public string OutputPath { get; set; } = "./output";
+    public string ClientOutputPath => Path.Combine(OutputPath, ClientClassName);
     public string ClientClassName { get; set; } = "ApiClient";
     public AccessModifier TypeAccessModifier { get; set; } = AccessModifier.Public;
     public string ClientNamespaceName { get; set; } = "ApiSdk";
diff --git a/src/Kiota.Builder/KiotaBuilder.cs b/src/Kiota.Builder/KiotaBuilder.cs
index 450e392103..ac4f2bee77 100644
--- a/src/Kiota.Builder/KiotaBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/Kiota.Builder/KiotaBuilder.cs
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ public partial class KiotaBuilder
     private readonly ParallelOptions parallelOptions;
     private readonly HttpClient httpClient;
     private OpenApiDocument? openApiDocument;
+    private readonly string outputPath;
     internal void SetOpenApiDocument(OpenApiDocument document) => openApiDocument = document ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(document));
 
     public KiotaBuilder(ILogger<KiotaBuilder> logger, GenerationConfiguration config, HttpClient client, bool useKiotaConfig = false)
@@ -64,19 +65,20 @@ public KiotaBuilder(ILogger<KiotaBuilder> logger, GenerationConfiguration config
         workspaceManagementService = new WorkspaceManagementService(logger, client, useKiotaConfig, workingDirectory);
         this.useKiotaConfig = useKiotaConfig;
         openApiDocumentDownloadService = new OpenApiDocumentDownloadService(client, logger);
+        outputPath = this.config.ClientOutputPath;
     }
     private readonly OpenApiDocumentDownloadService openApiDocumentDownloadService;
     private readonly bool useKiotaConfig;
     private async Task CleanOutputDirectoryAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
-        if (config.CleanOutput && Directory.Exists(config.OutputPath))
+        if (config.CleanOutput && Directory.Exists(outputPath))
         {
-            logger.LogInformation("Cleaning output directory {Path}", config.OutputPath);
+            logger.LogInformation("Cleaning output directory {Path}", outputPath);
             // not using Directory.Delete on the main directory because it's locked when mapped in a container
-            foreach (var subDir in Directory.EnumerateDirectories(config.OutputPath))
+            foreach (var subDir in Directory.EnumerateDirectories(outputPath))
                 Directory.Delete(subDir, true);
-            await workspaceManagementService.BackupStateAsync(config.OutputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
-            foreach (var subFile in Directory.EnumerateFiles(config.OutputPath)
+            await workspaceManagementService.BackupStateAsync(outputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            foreach (var subFile in Directory.EnumerateFiles(outputPath)
                                             .Where(static x => !x.EndsWith(FileLogLogger.LogFileName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
                 File.Delete(subFile);
         }
@@ -273,7 +275,7 @@ public async Task<bool> GenerateClientAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
             {
                 // Generate public API export
                 sw.Start();
-                var fileStream = File.Create(Path.Combine(config.OutputPath, PublicApiExportService.DomExportFileName));
+                var fileStream = File.Create(Path.Combine(outputPath, PublicApiExportService.DomExportFileName));
                 await using (fileStream.ConfigureAwait(false))
                 {
                     await new PublicApiExportService(config).SerializeDomAsync(fileStream, generatedCode, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
@@ -301,11 +303,11 @@ private async Task<bool> GenerateConsumerAsync(Func<Stopwatch, int, OpenApiUrlTr
         {
             await CleanOutputDirectoryAsync(cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
             // doing this verification at the beginning to give immediate feedback to the user
-            Directory.CreateDirectory(config.OutputPath);
+            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputPath);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
-            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Could not open/create output directory {config.OutputPath}, reason: {ex.Message}", ex);
+            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Could not open/create output directory {outputPath}, reason: {ex.Message}", ex);
         }
         try
         {
@@ -329,7 +331,7 @@ private async Task<bool> GenerateConsumerAsync(Func<Stopwatch, int, OpenApiUrlTr
         }
         catch
         {
-            await workspaceManagementService.RestoreStateAsync(config.OutputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            await workspaceManagementService.RestoreStateAsync(outputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
             throw;
         }
         return true;
@@ -579,13 +581,13 @@ public async Task ApplyLanguageRefinementAsync(GenerationConfiguration config, C
 
     public async Task CreateLanguageSourceFilesAsync(GenerationLanguage language, CodeNamespace generatedCode, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
-        var languageWriter = LanguageWriter.GetLanguageWriter(language, config.OutputPath, config.ClientNamespaceName, config.UsesBackingStore, config.ExcludeBackwardCompatible);
+        var languageWriter = LanguageWriter.GetLanguageWriter(language, outputPath, config.ClientNamespaceName, config.UsesBackingStore, config.ExcludeBackwardCompatible);
         var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
         stopwatch.Start();
         var codeRenderer = CodeRenderer.GetCodeRender(config);
         await codeRenderer.RenderCodeNamespaceToFilePerClassAsync(languageWriter, generatedCode, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
         stopwatch.Stop();
-        logger.LogTrace("{Timestamp}ms: Files written to {Path}", stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds, config.OutputPath);
+        logger.LogTrace("{Timestamp}ms: Files written to {Path}", stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds, outputPath);
     }
     private const string RequestBuilderSuffix = "RequestBuilder";
     private const string ItemRequestBuilderSuffix = "ItemRequestBuilder";
diff --git a/src/Kiota.Builder/Lock/LockManagementService.cs b/src/Kiota.Builder/Lock/LockManagementService.cs
index b35c2ba12f..363d859755 100644
--- a/src/Kiota.Builder/Lock/LockManagementService.cs
+++ b/src/Kiota.Builder/Lock/LockManagementService.cs
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ public IEnumerable<string> GetDirectoriesContainingLockFile(string searchDirecto
     private static async Task<KiotaLock?> GetLockFromDirectoryInternalAsync(string directoryPath, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         var lockFilePath = Path.Combine(directoryPath, LockFileName);
+        // If the lock file does not exist in the provided directory, try checking in the parent directory. This handles
+        // clients generated by older versions without this fix
+        if (!File.Exists(lockFilePath))
+        {
+            // We could use Directory.GetParent, but that involves a syscall which seems unnecessary given '..' is
+            // supported by File APIs.
+            // TODO: Check if there are scenarios where using '..' would fail.
+            lockFilePath = Path.Combine(directoryPath, "..", LockFileName);
+        }
         if (File.Exists(lockFilePath))
         {
 #pragma warning disable CA2007
@@ -73,6 +82,7 @@ public Task WriteLockFileAsync(string directoryPath, KiotaLock lockInfo, Cancell
     private static async Task WriteLockFileInternalAsync(string directoryPath, KiotaLock lockInfo, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         var lockFilePath = Path.Combine(directoryPath, LockFileName);
+        Directory.CreateDirectory(directoryPath);
 #pragma warning disable CA2007
         await using var fileStream = File.Open(lockFilePath, FileMode.Create);
 #pragma warning restore CA2007
diff --git a/src/Kiota.Builder/WorkspaceManagement/WorkspaceManagementService.cs b/src/Kiota.Builder/WorkspaceManagement/WorkspaceManagementService.cs
index 070fc07154..ad59a3c926 100644
--- a/src/Kiota.Builder/WorkspaceManagement/WorkspaceManagementService.cs
+++ b/src/Kiota.Builder/WorkspaceManagement/WorkspaceManagementService.cs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public async Task UpdateStateFromConfigurationAsync(GenerationConfiguration gene
             {
                 DescriptionHash = descriptionHash ?? string.Empty,
             };
-            await lockManagementService.WriteLockFileAsync(generationConfiguration.OutputPath, configurationLock, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            await lockManagementService.WriteLockFileAsync(generationConfiguration.ClientOutputPath, configurationLock, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
         }
     }
     public async Task RestoreStateAsync(string outputPath, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public async Task<bool> ShouldGenerateAsync(GenerationConfiguration inputConfig,
         }
         else
         {
-            var existingLock = await lockManagementService.GetLockFromDirectoryAsync(inputConfig.OutputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            var existingLock = await lockManagementService.GetLockFromDirectoryAsync(inputConfig.ClientOutputPath, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
             var configurationLock = new KiotaLock(inputConfig)
             {
                 DescriptionHash = descriptionHash,