diff --git a/Help/manual/cmake-properties.7.rst b/Help/manual/cmake-properties.7.rst
index 82d55883c8..76df602f7f 100644
--- a/Help/manual/cmake-properties.7.rst
+++ b/Help/manual/cmake-properties.7.rst
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ Properties on Targets
    /prop_tgt/VS_SCC_PROJECTNAME
    /prop_tgt/VS_SCC_PROVIDER
    /prop_tgt/VS_SDK_REFERENCES
+   /prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS_CXX
    /prop_tgt/VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_MIN_VERSION
    /prop_tgt/VS_WINRT_COMPONENT
    /prop_tgt/VS_WINRT_EXTENSIONS
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS_CXX.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS_CXX.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..083ce03f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/VS_USER_PROPS_CXX.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+VS_USER_PROPS_CXX
+-----------------
+
+Sets the user props file to be included in the visual studio
+C++ project file. The standard path is
+``$(UserRootDir)\\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props``, which is
+in most cases the same as
+``%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\MSBuild\\v4.0\\Microsoft.Cpp.Win32.user.props``
+or ``%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\MSBuild\\v4.0\\Microsoft.Cpp.x64.user.props``.
+
+The ``*.user.props`` files can be used for Visual Studio wide
+configuration which is independent from cmake.
diff --git a/Help/release/dev/vs-custom-msbuild-props.rst b/Help/release/dev/vs-custom-msbuild-props.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..15a5b0af59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Help/release/dev/vs-custom-msbuild-props.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+vs-custom-msbuild-props
+-----------------------
+
+* The :ref:`Visual Studio Generators` for VS 2010 and above can
+  now be fine tuned using custom msbuild .props files.
+  :prop_tgt:`VS_USER_PROPS_CXX` can be
+  used to change the default path of the user .props file from
+  ``$(UserRootDir)\\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props`` to
+  an arbitrary filename.
diff --git a/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
index 4dabd51d90..5b990070ae 100644
--- a/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator.cxx
@@ -139,7 +139,11 @@ void cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::WriteString(const char* line,
   (*this->BuildFileStream) << line;
 }
 
-#define VS10_USER_PROPS "$(UserRootDir)\\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props"
+#define VS10_CXX_DEFAULT_PROPS "$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props"
+#define VS10_CXX_PROPS "$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.props"
+#define VS10_CXX_USER_PROPS                                                   \
+  "$(UserRootDir)\\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props"
+#define VS10_CXX_TARGETS "$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.targets"
 
 void cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::Generate()
 {
@@ -345,12 +349,9 @@ void cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::Generate()
   }
 
   this->WriteString("</PropertyGroup>\n", 1);
-  this->WriteString("<Import Project="
-                    "\"$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props\" />\n",
-                    1);
+  this->WriteString("<Import Project=\"" VS10_CXX_DEFAULT_PROPS "\" />\n", 1);
   this->WriteProjectConfigurationValues();
-  this->WriteString(
-    "<Import Project=\"$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.props\" />\n", 1);
+  this->WriteString("<Import Project=\"" VS10_CXX_PROPS "\" />\n", 1);
   this->WriteString("<ImportGroup Label=\"ExtensionSettings\">\n", 1);
   if (this->GlobalGenerator->IsMasmEnabled()) {
     this->WriteString("<Import Project=\"$(VCTargetsPath)\\"
@@ -359,10 +360,19 @@ void cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::Generate()
   }
   this->WriteString("</ImportGroup>\n", 1);
   this->WriteString("<ImportGroup Label=\"PropertySheets\">\n", 1);
-  this->WriteString("<Import Project=\"" VS10_USER_PROPS "\""
-                    " Condition=\"exists('" VS10_USER_PROPS "')\""
-                    " Label=\"LocalAppDataPlatform\" />\n",
-                    2);
+  {
+    std::string props = VS10_CXX_USER_PROPS;
+    if (const char* p =
+          this->GeneratorTarget->GetProperty("VS_USER_PROPS_CXX")) {
+      props = p;
+      this->ConvertToWindowsSlash(props);
+    }
+    this->WriteString("", 2);
+    (*this->BuildFileStream)
+      << "<Import Project=\"" << cmVS10EscapeXML(props) << "\""
+      << " Condition=\"exists('" << cmVS10EscapeXML(props) << "')\""
+      << " Label=\"LocalAppDataPlatform\" />\n";
+  }
   this->WritePlatformExtensions();
   this->WriteString("</ImportGroup>\n", 1);
   this->WriteString("<PropertyGroup Label=\"UserMacros\" />\n", 1);
@@ -377,10 +387,8 @@ void cmVisualStudio10TargetGenerator::Generate()
   this->WriteWinRTReferences();
   this->WriteProjectReferences();
   this->WriteSDKReferences();
-  this->WriteString(
-    "<Import Project=\"$(VCTargetsPath)\\Microsoft.Cpp.targets\""
-    " />\n",
-    1);
+  this->WriteString("<Import Project=\"" VS10_CXX_TARGETS "\" />\n", 1);
+
   this->WriteTargetSpecificReferences();
   this->WriteString("<ImportGroup Label=\"ExtensionTargets\">\n", 1);
   this->WriteTargetsFileReferences();
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/RunCMakeTest.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/RunCMakeTest.cmake
index 22d8164047..d913af7ecc 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/RunCMakeTest.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/RunCMakeTest.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 include(RunCMake)
 run_cmake(VsConfigurationType)
 run_cmake(VsTargetsFileReferences)
+run_cmake(VsCustomProps)
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps-check.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps-check.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..22a3df0f0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps-check.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+set(vcProjectFile "${RunCMake_TEST_BINARY_DIR}/foo.vcxproj")
+if(NOT EXISTS "${vcProjectFile}")
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "Project file ${vcProjectFile} does not exist.")
+  return()
+endif()
+
+set(importFound FALSE)
+
+set(props_file "${RunCMake_SOURCE_DIR}/my.props")
+file(TO_NATIVE_PATH "${props_file}" check_file)
+file(STRINGS "${vcProjectFile}" lines)
+foreach(line IN LISTS lines)
+  if(line MATCHES "^ *<Import Project=\"([^\"]+)\".*Label=\"([^\"]+)\".*$")
+    if("${CMAKE_MATCH_1}" STREQUAL "${check_file}" AND
+       "${CMAKE_MATCH_2}" STREQUAL "LocalAppDataPlatform")
+        message(STATUS "foo.vcxproj is importing ${check_file}")
+        set(importFound TRUE)
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endforeach()
+
+if(NOT importFound)
+  set(RunCMake_TEST_FAILED "Import of custom .props file not found.")
+  return()
+endif()
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..af52a3e8f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/VsCustomProps.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+enable_language(CXX)
+add_library(foo foo.cpp)
+
+set(props_file "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/my.props")
+
+set_target_properties(foo PROPERTIES
+    VS_USER_PROPS_CXX "${props_file}")
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/my.props b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/my.props
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c98cde3a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/VS10Project/my.props
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="12.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+	<PropertyGroup>
+	</PropertyGroup>
+</Project>