diff --git a/Source/cmGetDirectoryPropertyCommand.cxx b/Source/cmGetDirectoryPropertyCommand.cxx
index 8d08c6b8e..278e2aef6 100644
--- a/Source/cmGetDirectoryPropertyCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGetDirectoryPropertyCommand.cxx
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ bool cmGetDirectoryPropertyCommand::InitialPass(
       sd += "/";
       sd += *i;
       }
+
+    // The local generators are associated with collapsed paths.
+    sd = cmSystemTools::CollapseFullPath(sd.c_str());
+
     // lookup the makefile from the directory name
     cmLocalGenerator *lg = 
       this->Makefile->GetLocalGenerator()->GetGlobalGenerator()->
diff --git a/Tests/OutOfSource/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/OutOfSource/CMakeLists.txt
index a053f1401..265d47deb 100644
--- a/Tests/OutOfSource/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/OutOfSource/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ project (OutOfSource)
 add_subdirectory(SubDir)
 
 get_directory_property(ANIMAL DIRECTORY OutOfSourceSubdir DEFINITION WEASELS)
+get_directory_property(ANIMALREL DIRECTORY SubDir/../OutOfSourceSubdir DEFINITION WEASELS)
+IF(NOT "${ANIMAL}" STREQUAL "${ANIMALREL}")
+  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "GET_DIRECTORY_PROPERTY does not seem to collapse paths.")
+ENDIF(NOT "${ANIMAL}" STREQUAL "${ANIMALREL}")
 
 configure_file(
   ${OutOfSource_SOURCE_DIR}/testdp.h.in