diff --git a/Source/cmStringCommand.cxx b/Source/cmStringCommand.cxx
index 19d23692a..3c74dc986 100644
--- a/Source/cmStringCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmStringCommand.cxx
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ bool cmStringCommand
 
   static bool seeded = false;
   bool force_seed = false;
-  int seed = (int) time(NULL);
+  unsigned int seed = 0;
   int length = 5;
   const char cmStringCommandDefaultAlphabet[] = "qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm"
     "QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM"
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ bool cmStringCommand
       else if ( args[i] == "RANDOM_SEED" )
         {
         ++i;
-        seed = atoi(args[i].c_str());
+        seed = static_cast<unsigned int>(atoi(args[i].c_str()));
         force_seed = true;
         }
       }
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@ bool cmStringCommand
   if (!seeded || force_seed)
     {
     seeded = true;
-    srand(seed);
+    srand(force_seed? seed : cmSystemTools::RandomSeed());
     }
 
   const char* alphaPtr = alphabet.c_str();
diff --git a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
index 7bc89a4c4..b99205485 100644
--- a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
   implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
   See the License for more information.
 ============================================================================*/
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER < 1300
+# define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0400 /* for wincrypt.h */
+#endif
 #include "cmSystemTools.h"   
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -31,7 +34,9 @@
 
 #if defined(_WIN32)
 # include <windows.h>
+# include <wincrypt.h>
 #else
+# include <sys/time.h>
 # include <sys/types.h>
 # include <unistd.h>
 # include <utime.h>
@@ -2232,6 +2237,71 @@ bool cmSystemTools::FileTimeSet(const char* fname, cmSystemToolsFileTime* t)
   return true;
 }
 
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+#ifdef _WIN32
+# ifndef CRYPT_SILENT
+#  define CRYPT_SILENT 0x40 /* Not defined by VS 6 version of header.  */
+# endif
+static int WinCryptRandom(void* data, size_t size)
+{
+  int result = 0;
+  HCRYPTPROV hProvider = 0;
+  if(CryptAcquireContextW(&hProvider, 0, 0, PROV_RSA_FULL,
+                          CRYPT_VERIFYCONTEXT | CRYPT_SILENT))
+    {
+    result = CryptGenRandom(hProvider, (DWORD)size, (BYTE*)data)? 1:0;
+    CryptReleaseContext(hProvider, 0);
+    }
+  return result;
+}
+#endif
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+unsigned int cmSystemTools::RandomSeed()
+{
+#if defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+  unsigned int seed = 0;
+
+  // Try using a real random source.
+  if(WinCryptRandom(&seed, sizeof(seed)))
+    {
+    return seed;
+    }
+
+  // Fall back to the time and pid.
+  FILETIME ft;
+  GetSystemTimeAsFileTime(&ft);
+  unsigned int t1 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ft.dwHighDateTime);
+  unsigned int t2 = static_cast<unsigned int>(ft.dwLowDateTime);
+  unsigned int pid = static_cast<unsigned int>(GetCurrentProcessId());
+  return t1 ^ t2 ^ pid;
+#else
+  union
+  {
+    unsigned int integer;
+    char bytes[sizeof(unsigned int)];
+  } seed;
+
+  // Try using a real random source.
+  std::ifstream fin("/dev/urandom");
+  if(fin && fin.read(seed.bytes, sizeof(seed)) &&
+     fin.gcount() == sizeof(seed))
+    {
+    return seed.integer;
+    }
+
+  // Fall back to the time and pid.
+  struct timeval t;
+  gettimeofday(&t, 0);
+  unsigned int pid = static_cast<unsigned int>(getpid());
+  unsigned int tv_sec = static_cast<unsigned int>(t.tv_sec);
+  unsigned int tv_usec = static_cast<unsigned int>(t.tv_usec);
+  // Since tv_usec never fills more than 11 bits we shift it to fill
+  // in the slow-changing high-order bits of tv_sec.
+  return tv_sec ^ (tv_usec << 21) ^ pid;
+#endif
+}
+
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 static std::string cmSystemToolsExecutableDirectory;
 void cmSystemTools::FindExecutableDirectory(const char* argv0)
diff --git a/Source/cmSystemTools.h b/Source/cmSystemTools.h
index 6f9147c31..78b9abf2f 100644
--- a/Source/cmSystemTools.h
+++ b/Source/cmSystemTools.h
@@ -402,6 +402,9 @@ public:
   static bool FileTimeGet(const char* fname, cmSystemToolsFileTime* t);
   static bool FileTimeSet(const char* fname, cmSystemToolsFileTime* t);
 
+  /** Random seed generation.  */
+  static unsigned int RandomSeed();
+
   /** Find the directory containing the running executable.  Save it
    in a global location to be queried by GetExecutableDirectory
    later.  */