diff --git a/Source/cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator.cxx
index 6e08bcace..613c7b5b8 100644
--- a/Source/cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ std::vector<std::string>
 cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator
 ::ComputeLinkCmd()
 {
+  std::vector<std::string> linkCmds;
   cmTarget::TargetType targetType = this->GetTarget()->GetType();
   switch (targetType) {
     case cmTarget::STATIC_LIBRARY: {
@@ -230,7 +231,8 @@ cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator
       if (const char *linkCmd =
             this->GetMakefile()->GetDefinition(linkCmdVar.c_str()))
         {
-        return std::vector<std::string>(1, linkCmd);
+        cmSystemTools::ExpandListArgument(linkCmd, linkCmds);
+        return linkCmds;
         }
       }
 
@@ -249,7 +251,7 @@ cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator
       linkCmdVar += "_ARCHIVE_CREATE";
       const char *linkCmd =
         this->GetMakefile()->GetRequiredDefinition(linkCmdVar.c_str());
-      linkCmds.push_back(linkCmd);
+      cmSystemTools::ExpandListArgument(linkCmd, linkCmds);
       }
       {
       std::string linkCmdVar = "CMAKE_";
@@ -257,7 +259,7 @@ cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator
       linkCmdVar += "_ARCHIVE_FINISH";
       const char *linkCmd =
         this->GetMakefile()->GetRequiredDefinition(linkCmdVar.c_str());
-      linkCmds.push_back(linkCmd);
+      cmSystemTools::ExpandListArgument(linkCmd, linkCmds);
       }
       return linkCmds;
     }
@@ -281,7 +283,8 @@ cmNinjaNormalTargetGenerator
       }
       const char *linkCmd =
         this->GetMakefile()->GetRequiredDefinition(linkCmdVar.c_str());
-      return std::vector<std::string>(1, linkCmd);
+      cmSystemTools::ExpandListArgument(linkCmd, linkCmds);
+      return linkCmds;
     }
     default:
       assert(0 && "Unexpected target type");
diff --git a/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
index c776fcf40..d0b415611 100644
--- a/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmNinjaTargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -334,8 +334,15 @@ cmNinjaTargetGenerator
   compileCmdVar += "_COMPILE_OBJECT";
   std::string compileCmd =
     this->GetMakefile()->GetRequiredDefinition(compileCmdVar.c_str());
+  std::vector<std::string> compileCmds;
+  cmSystemTools::ExpandListArgument(compileCmd, compileCmds);
 
-  this->GetLocalGenerator()->ExpandRuleVariables(compileCmd, vars);
+  for (std::vector<std::string>::iterator i = compileCmds.begin();
+       i != compileCmds.end(); ++i)
+    this->GetLocalGenerator()->ExpandRuleVariables(*i, vars);
+
+  std::string cmdLine =
+    this->GetLocalGenerator()->BuildCommandLine(compileCmds);
 
   // Write the rule for compiling file of the given language.
   std::ostringstream comment;
@@ -343,7 +350,7 @@ cmNinjaTargetGenerator
   std::ostringstream description;
   description << "Building " << language << " object $out";
   this->GetGlobalGenerator()->AddRule(this->LanguageCompilerRule(language),
-                                      compileCmd,
+                                      cmdLine,
                                       description.str(),
                                       comment.str(),
                                       depfile);