diff --git a/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.cxx
index bd4771586..76ed0387c 100644
--- a/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ void cmCommonTargetGenerator::AddFeatureFlags(
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 void cmCommonTargetGenerator::AddModuleDefinitionFlag(std::string& flags)
 {
-  if(this->ModuleDefinitionFile.empty())
+  if(!this->ModuleDefinitionFile)
     {
     return;
     }
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ void cmCommonTargetGenerator::AddModuleDefinitionFlag(std::string& flags)
   // vs6's "cl -link" pass it to the linker.
   std::string flag = defFileFlag;
   flag += (this->LocalGenerator->ConvertToLinkReference(
-             this->ModuleDefinitionFile));
+             this->ModuleDefinitionFile->GetFullPath()));
   this->LocalGenerator->AppendFlags(flags, flag);
 }
 
diff --git a/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.h b/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.h
index 3fb1fd093..0c1750012 100644
--- a/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.h
+++ b/Source/cmCommonTargetGenerator.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ protected:
   std::string ConfigName;
 
   // The windows module definition source file (.def), if any.
-  std::string ModuleDefinitionFile;
+  cmSourceFile const* ModuleDefinitionFile;
 
   // Target-wide Fortran module output directory.
   bool FortranModuleDirectoryComputed;
diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.cxx b/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.cxx
index 0f5a7e743..40afc0e3b 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.cxx
@@ -2095,12 +2095,18 @@ cmGeneratorTarget::CompileInfo const* cmGeneratorTarget::GetCompileInfo(
 }
 
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-std::string
+cmSourceFile const*
 cmGeneratorTarget::GetModuleDefinitionFile(const std::string& config) const
 {
-  std::string data;
-  IMPLEMENT_VISIT_IMPL(ModuleDefinitionFile, COMMA std::string)
-  return data;
+  std::vector<cmSourceFile const*> data;
+  IMPLEMENT_VISIT_IMPL(ModuleDefinitionFile,
+                       COMMA std::vector<cmSourceFile const*>)
+  if(!data.empty())
+    {
+    return data.front();
+    }
+
+  return 0;
 }
 
 bool cmGeneratorTarget::IsDLLPlatform() const
diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.h b/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.h
index da59a98be..bd2347707 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.h
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorTarget.h
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ public:
   cmLocalGenerator* LocalGenerator;
   cmGlobalGenerator const* GlobalGenerator;
 
-  std::string GetModuleDefinitionFile(const std::string& config) const;
+  cmSourceFile const* GetModuleDefinitionFile(const std::string& config) const;
 
   /** Return whether or not the target is for a DLL platform.  */
   bool IsDLLPlatform() const;
diff --git a/Source/cmMakefileTargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmMakefileTargetGenerator.cxx
index 7acccb3e5..eedc6abdb 100644
--- a/Source/cmMakefileTargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmMakefileTargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -1497,9 +1497,9 @@ void cmMakefileTargetGenerator
   this->AppendTargetDepends(depends);
 
   // Add a dependency on the link definitions file, if any.
-  if(!this->ModuleDefinitionFile.empty())
+  if(this->ModuleDefinitionFile)
     {
-    depends.push_back(this->ModuleDefinitionFile);
+    depends.push_back(this->ModuleDefinitionFile->GetFullPath());
     }
 
   // Add a dependency on user-specified manifest files, if any.
diff --git a/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
index dc2c7a6e9..5ff4fdb38 100644
--- a/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -195,9 +195,10 @@ cmNinjaDeps cmNinjaTargetGenerator::ComputeLinkDeps() const
   std::transform(deps.begin(), deps.end(), result.begin(), MapToNinjaPath());
 
   // Add a dependency on the link definitions file, if any.
-  if(!this->ModuleDefinitionFile.empty())
+  if(this->ModuleDefinitionFile)
     {
-    result.push_back(this->ConvertToNinjaPath(this->ModuleDefinitionFile));
+    result.push_back(this->ConvertToNinjaPath(
+        this->ModuleDefinitionFile->GetFullPath()));
     }
 
   // Add a dependency on user-specified manifest files, if any.
diff --git a/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
index 7da00fa1a..9e2dc655b 100644
--- a/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -2642,10 +2642,11 @@ cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::ComputeLinkOptions(std::string const& config)
 
   if(this->MSTools)
     {
-    std::string def = this->GeneratorTarget->GetModuleDefinitionFile("");
-    if(!def.empty())
+    if (cmSourceFile const* defsrc =
+        this->GeneratorTarget->GetModuleDefinitionFile(""))
       {
-      linkOptions.AddFlag("ModuleDefinitionFile", def.c_str());
+      linkOptions.AddFlag("ModuleDefinitionFile",
+                          defsrc->GetFullPath().c_str());
       }
     linkOptions.AppendFlag("IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries",
                            "%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries)");