diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,8 +53,10 @@
 find_package(PythonInterp REQUIRED)
 configure_file(cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake.in ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake @ONLY)
 # Needed to build the ki18n translations and run the autotests
-file(COPY ${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ts-pmap-compile.py DESTINATION ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake)
-file(COPY ${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/kf5i18nuic.cmake DESTINATION ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake)
+configure_file(${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/build-pofiles.cmake ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake/build-pofiles.cmake COPYONLY)
+configure_file(${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/build-tsfiles.cmake ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake/build-tsfiles.cmake COPYONLY)
+configure_file(${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/ts-pmap-compile.py ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake/ts-pmap-compile.py COPYONLY)
+configure_file(${KI18n_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/kf5i18nuic.cmake ${KI18n_BINARY_DIR}/cmake/kf5i18nuic.cmake COPYONLY)
 
 # usually is called using find_package(KF5I18n),
 # KF5I18NMacros.cmake needs to know the scripts directory
diff --git a/cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake.in b/cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake.in
--- a/cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake.in
+++ b/cmake/KF5I18NMacros.cmake.in
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 
 set(_ki18n_pmap_compile_script ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/ts-pmap-compile.py)
 set(_ki18n_uic_script ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/kf5i18nuic.cmake)
+set(_ki18n_build_pofiles_script ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/build-pofiles.cmake)
+set(_ki18n_build_tsfiles_script ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/build-tsfiles.cmake)
 
 #create the implementation files from the ui files and add them to the list of sources
 #usage: KI18N_WRAP_UI(foo_SRCS ${ui_files})
@@ -111,16 +113,16 @@
                 -DGETTEXT_MSGFMT_EXECUTABLE=${GETTEXT_MSGFMT_EXECUTABLE}
                 -DCOPY_TO=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${dirname}
                 -DPO_DIR=${absolute_podir}
-                -P ${KF5I18n_DIR}/build-pofiles.cmake
+                -P ${_ki18n_build_pofiles_script}
     )
     add_custom_target(tsfiles-${pathmd5} ALL
         COMMENT "Generating ts..."
         COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND}
                 -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=${KI18N_PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
                 -D_ki18n_pmap_compile_script=${_ki18n_pmap_compile_script}
                 -DCOPY_TO=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${dirname}
                 -DPO_DIR=${absolute_podir}
-                -P ${KF5I18n_DIR}/build-tsfiles.cmake
+                -P ${_ki18n_build_tsfiles_script}
     )
 
     if (NOT TARGET pofiles)