diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
index aae6e35bda..3561deb880 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
@@ -1179,10 +1179,10 @@ void cmGlobalGenerator::FillExtensionToLanguageMap(const std::string& l,
   }
 }
 
-const char* cmGlobalGenerator::GetGlobalSetting(std::string const& name) const
+cmProp cmGlobalGenerator::GetGlobalSetting(std::string const& name) const
 {
   assert(!this->Makefiles.empty());
-  return cmToCStr(this->Makefiles[0]->GetDefinition(name));
+  return this->Makefiles[0]->GetDefinition(name);
 }
 
 bool cmGlobalGenerator::GlobalSettingIsOn(std::string const& name) const
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ std::string cmGlobalGenerator::GetSafeGlobalSetting(
   std::string const& name) const
 {
   assert(!this->Makefiles.empty());
-  return this->Makefiles[0]->GetSafeDefinition(name);
+  return this->Makefiles[0]->GetDefinition(name);
 }
 
 bool cmGlobalGenerator::IgnoreFile(const char* ext) const
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.h b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.h
index f0b59bf25d..34646d9f96 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.h
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "cmCustomCommandLines.h"
 #include "cmDuration.h"
 #include "cmExportSet.h"
+#include "cmProperty.h"
 #include "cmStateSnapshot.h"
 #include "cmStringAlgorithms.h"
 #include "cmSystemTools.h"
@@ -308,7 +309,7 @@ public:
 
   cmExportSetMap& GetExportSets() { return this->ExportSets; }
 
-  const char* GetGlobalSetting(std::string const& name) const;
+  cmProp GetGlobalSetting(std::string const& name) const;
   bool GlobalSettingIsOn(std::string const& name) const;
   std::string GetSafeGlobalSetting(std::string const& name) const;