diff --git a/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake b/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
index 3acb4f91f..0781ea146 100644
--- a/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
+++ b/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ endif()
         set(sep ";")
       endif()
     endforeach()
-    set(code "set(ENV{VS_UNICODE_OUTPUT} \"\")\n${code}set(command \"${cmd}\")${code_execute_process}")
+    set(code "${code}set(command \"${cmd}\")${code_execute_process}")
     file(WRITE ${stamp_dir}/${name}-${step}-impl.cmake "${code}")
     set(command ${CMAKE_COMMAND} "-Dmake=\${make}" "-Dconfig=\${config}" -P ${stamp_dir}/${name}-${step}-impl.cmake)
   endif()
@@ -980,7 +980,6 @@ endif()
   set(logbase ${stamp_dir}/${name}-${step})
   file(WRITE ${script} "
 ${code_cygpath_make}
-set(ENV{VS_UNICODE_OUTPUT} \"\")
 set(command \"${command}\")
 execute_process(
   COMMAND \${command}
diff --git a/Modules/GetPrerequisites.cmake b/Modules/GetPrerequisites.cmake
index 18f449dda..9e89788fe 100644
--- a/Modules/GetPrerequisites.cmake
+++ b/Modules/GetPrerequisites.cmake
@@ -635,7 +635,6 @@ function(get_prerequisites target prerequisites_var exclude_system recurse exepa
     set(gp_regex_fallback "")
     set(gp_regex_cmp_count 1)
     set(gp_tool_known 1)
-    set(ENV{VS_UNICODE_OUTPUT} "") # Block extra output from inside VS IDE.
   endif()
 
   if("${gp_tool}" STREQUAL "objdump")
diff --git a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
index aa5fc9441..c52c26661 100644
--- a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
@@ -1696,6 +1696,7 @@ cmSystemTools::SaveRestoreEnvironment::~SaveRestoreEnvironment()
 
 void cmSystemTools::EnableVSConsoleOutput()
 {
+#ifdef _WIN32
   // Visual Studio 8 2005 (devenv.exe or VCExpress.exe) will not
   // display output to the console unless this environment variable is
   // set.  We need it to capture the output of these build tools.
@@ -1703,8 +1704,15 @@ void cmSystemTools::EnableVSConsoleOutput()
   // either of these executables where NAME is created with
   // CreateNamedPipe.  This would bypass the internal buffering of the
   // output and allow it to be captured on the fly.
-#ifdef _WIN32
   cmSystemTools::PutEnv("vsconsoleoutput=1");
+
+# ifdef CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_CMAKE
+  // VS sets an environment variable to tell MS tools like "cl" to report
+  // output through a backdoor pipe instead of stdout/stderr.  Unset the
+  // environment variable to close this backdoor for any path of process
+  // invocations that passes through CMake so we can capture the output.
+  cmSystemTools::UnsetEnv("VS_UNICODE_OUTPUT");
+# endif
 #endif
 }