diff --git a/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake b/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
index 1be6cfdb8..c575a7315 100644
--- a/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
+++ b/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #    [CMAKE_COMMAND /.../cmake]  # Specify alternative cmake executable
 #    [CMAKE_GENERATOR gen]       # Specify generator for native build
 #    [CMAKE_ARGS args...]        # Arguments to CMake command line
+#    [CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS args...]  # Initial cache arguments, of the form -Dvar:string=on
 #   #--Build step-----------------
 #    [BINARY_DIR dir]            # Specify build dir location
 #    [BUILD_COMMAND cmd...]      # Command to drive the native build
@@ -549,6 +550,29 @@ function(_ep_set_directories name)
   endforeach()
 endfunction(_ep_set_directories)
 
+function(_ep_write_initial_cache script_filename args)
+  # Write out values into an initial cache, that will be passed to CMake with -C
+  set(script_initial_cache "")
+  set(regex "^([^:]+):([^=]+)=(.*)$")
+  foreach(line ${args})
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "^-D" "" line ${line})
+    if("${line}" MATCHES "${regex}")
+      string(REGEX MATCH "${regex}" match "${line}")
+      set(name "${CMAKE_MATCH_1}")
+      set(type "${CMAKE_MATCH_2}")
+      set(value "${CMAKE_MATCH_3}")
+      set(setArg "set(${name} \"${value}\" CACHE ${type} \"Initial cache\" FORCE)")
+      set(script_initial_cache "${script_initial_cache}\n${setArg}")
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+  # Write out the initial cache file to the location specified.
+  if(NOT EXISTS "${script_filename}.in")
+    file(WRITE "${script_filename}.in" "@script_initial_cache@\n")
+  endif()
+  configure_file("${script_filename}.in" "${script_filename}")
+
+endfunction(_ep_write_initial_cache)
+
 
 function(ExternalProject_Get_Property name)
   foreach(var ${ARGN})
@@ -1224,6 +1248,14 @@ function(_ep_add_configure_command name)
     get_property(cmake_args TARGET ${name} PROPERTY _EP_CMAKE_ARGS)
     list(APPEND cmd ${cmake_args})
 
+    # If there are any CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS, write an initial cache and use it
+    get_property(cmake_cache_args TARGET ${name} PROPERTY _EP_CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS)
+    if(cmake_cache_args)
+      set(_ep_cache_args_script "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${name}-cache.cmake")
+      _ep_write_initial_cache("${_ep_cache_args_script}" "${cmake_cache_args}")
+      list(APPEND cmd "-C${_ep_cache_args_script}")
+    endif()
+
     get_target_property(cmake_generator ${name} _EP_CMAKE_GENERATOR)
     if(cmake_generator)
       list(APPEND cmd "-G${cmake_generator}" "${source_dir}")
@@ -1246,6 +1278,7 @@ function(_ep_add_configure_command name)
   endif()
   configure_file(${tmp_dir}/${name}-cfgcmd.txt.in ${tmp_dir}/${name}-cfgcmd.txt)
   list(APPEND file_deps ${tmp_dir}/${name}-cfgcmd.txt)
+  list(APPEND file_deps ${_ep_cache_args_script})
 
   get_property(log TARGET ${name} PROPERTY _EP_LOG_CONFIGURE)
   if(log)