diff --git a/Source/cmCustomCommand.cxx b/Source/cmCustomCommand.cxx
index b67214854..ac2eef80e 100644
--- a/Source/cmCustomCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmCustomCommand.cxx
@@ -100,16 +100,6 @@ const std::vector<std::string>& cmCustomCommand::GetOutputs() const
   return this->Outputs;
 }
 
-//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-const char* cmCustomCommand::GetWorkingDirectory() const
-{
-  if(this->WorkingDirectory.size() == 0)
-    {
-    return 0;
-    }
-  return this->WorkingDirectory.c_str();
-}
-
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 const std::vector<std::string>& cmCustomCommand::GetDepends() const
 {
diff --git a/Source/cmCustomCommand.h b/Source/cmCustomCommand.h
index 67c305e55..b5d7e6215 100644
--- a/Source/cmCustomCommand.h
+++ b/Source/cmCustomCommand.h
@@ -42,12 +42,13 @@ public:
   /** Get the output file produced by the command.  */
   const std::vector<std::string>& GetOutputs() const;
 
-  /** Get the working directory.  */
-  const char* GetWorkingDirectory() const;
-
   /** Get the vector that holds the list of dependencies.  */
   const std::vector<std::string>& GetDepends() const;
 
+  /** Get the working directory.  */
+  std::string const& GetWorkingDirectory() const
+    { return this->WorkingDirectory; }
+
   /** Get the list of command lines.  */
   const cmCustomCommandLines& GetCommandLines() const;
 
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
index 30a2a1ec3..16c74b97b 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalXCodeGenerator.cxx
@@ -1646,10 +1646,11 @@ void  cmGlobalXCodeGenerator
         cmSystemTools::ReplaceString(cmd2, "/./", "/");
         cmd2 = this->ConvertToRelativeForMake(cmd2.c_str());
         std::string cmd;
-        if(cc.GetWorkingDirectory())
+        std::string wd = cc.GetWorkingDirectory();
+        if(!wd.empty())
           {
           cmd += "cd ";
-          cmd += this->ConvertToRelativeForMake(cc.GetWorkingDirectory());
+          cmd += this->ConvertToRelativeForMake(wd.c_str());
           cmd += " && ";
           }
         cmd += cmd2;
diff --git a/Source/cmLocalNinjaGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmLocalNinjaGenerator.cxx
index acaacdda3..d68a07bc0 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalNinjaGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalNinjaGenerator.cxx
@@ -364,8 +364,8 @@ void cmLocalNinjaGenerator::AppendCustomCommandLines(const cmCustomCommand *cc,
 {
   cmCustomCommandGenerator ccg(*cc, this->GetConfigName(), this->Makefile);
   if (ccg.GetNumberOfCommands() > 0) {
-    const char* wd = cc->GetWorkingDirectory();
-    if (!wd)
+    std::string wd = cc->GetWorkingDirectory();
+    if (wd.empty())
       wd = this->GetMakefile()->GetStartOutputDirectory();
 
     cmOStringStream cdCmd;
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ std::string cmLocalNinjaGenerator::MakeCustomLauncher(
   if(!outputs.empty())
   {
     RelativeRoot relative_root =
-      cc.GetWorkingDirectory() ? NONE : START_OUTPUT;
+      cc.GetWorkingDirectory().empty() ? START_OUTPUT : NONE;
 
     output = this->Convert(outputs[0], relative_root, SHELL);
   }
diff --git a/Source/cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3.cxx b/Source/cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3.cxx
index 3681e0e53..d3f63f51d 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3.cxx
@@ -1023,9 +1023,9 @@ cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3
     }
 
   // if the command specified a working directory use it.
-  const char* dir  = this->Makefile->GetStartOutputDirectory();
-  const char* workingDir = cc.GetWorkingDirectory();
-  if(workingDir)
+  std::string dir  = this->Makefile->GetStartOutputDirectory();
+  std::string workingDir = cc.GetWorkingDirectory();
+  if(!workingDir.empty())
     {
     dir = workingDir;
     }
@@ -1066,7 +1066,7 @@ cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3
       // Convert the command to a relative path only if the current
       // working directory will be the start-output directory.
       bool had_slash = cmd.find("/") != cmd.npos;
-      if(!workingDir)
+      if(workingDir.empty())
         {
         cmd = this->Convert(cmd,START_OUTPUT);
         }
@@ -1079,7 +1079,8 @@ cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3
         cmd = "./" + cmd;
         }
       std::string launcher =
-        this->MakeLauncher(cc, target, workingDir? NONE : START_OUTPUT);
+        this->MakeLauncher(cc, target,
+                           workingDir.empty()? START_OUTPUT : NONE);
       cmd = launcher + this->ConvertShellCommand(cmd, NONE);
 
       ccg.AppendArguments(c, cmd);
@@ -1125,7 +1126,7 @@ cmLocalUnixMakefileGenerator3
     }
 
   // Setup the proper working directory for the commands.
-  this->CreateCDCommand(commands1, dir, relative);
+  this->CreateCDCommand(commands1, dir.c_str(), relative);
 
   // push back the custom commands
   commands.insert(commands.end(), commands1.begin(), commands1.end());
diff --git a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio6Generator.cxx b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio6Generator.cxx
index f1fd99461..d7130248b 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio6Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio6Generator.cxx
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ cmLocalVisualStudio6Generator
      this->Makefile->AddCustomCommandToOutput(
        output, depends, no_main_dependency,
        origCommand.GetCommandLines(), comment.c_str(),
-       origCommand.GetWorkingDirectory()))
+       origCommand.GetWorkingDirectory().c_str()))
     {
     target.AddSourceFile(outsf);
     }
diff --git a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
index 6e93d22c2..3075c1567 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator.cxx
@@ -84,9 +84,9 @@ cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator
                   const std::string& newline_text)
 {
   bool useLocal = this->CustomCommandUseLocal();
-  const char* workingDirectory = cc.GetWorkingDirectory();
+  std::string workingDirectory = cc.GetWorkingDirectory();
   cmCustomCommandGenerator ccg(cc, configName, this->Makefile);
-  RelativeRoot relativeRoot = workingDirectory? NONE : START_OUTPUT;
+  RelativeRoot relativeRoot = workingDirectory.empty()? START_OUTPUT : NONE;
 
   // Avoid leading or trailing newlines.
   std::string newline = "";
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator
     script += "setlocal";
     }
 
-  if(workingDirectory)
+  if(!workingDirectory.empty())
     {
     // Change the working directory.
     script += newline;
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ cmLocalVisualStudioGenerator
     script += check_error;
 
     // Change the working drive.
-    if(workingDirectory[0] && workingDirectory[1] == ':')
+    if(workingDirectory.size() > 1 && workingDirectory[1] == ':')
       {
       script += newline;
       newline = newline_text;