diff --git a/wpimath/CMakeLists.txt b/wpimath/CMakeLists.txt
index 4f0e8da17a0..8855f697e8a 100644
--- a/wpimath/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wpimath/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,18 @@ include(CompileWarnings)
 include(AddTest)
 include(DownloadAndCheck)
 
+# workaround for makefiles - for some reason parent directories aren't created.
+file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf")
+file(GLOB wpimath_proto_src src/main/proto/*.proto)
+protobuf_generate_cpp(
+    WPIMATH_PROTO_SRCS
+    WPIMATH_PROTO_HDRS
+    PROTOC_OUT_DIR
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf"
+    PROTOS
+    ${wpimath_proto_src}
+)
+
 function(quickbuf_generate SRCS JAVA_PACKAGE)
     if(NOT ARGN)
         message(SEND_ERROR "Error: PROTOBUF_GENERATE_QUICKBUF() called without any proto files")
@@ -190,29 +202,11 @@ endif()
 file(GLOB_RECURSE wpimath_native_src src/main/native/cpp/*.cpp)
 list(REMOVE_ITEM wpimath_native_src ${wpimath_jni_src})
 
-file(GLOB wpimath_proto_src src/main/proto/*.proto)
-
 set(CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS FALSE)
-add_library(wpimath ${wpimath_native_src} ${wpimath_proto_src})
+add_library(wpimath ${wpimath_native_src} ${WPIMATH_PROTO_SRCS})
 set(CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS TRUE)
 set_target_properties(wpimath PROPERTIES DEBUG_POSTFIX "d")
 
-if(MSVC)
-  set(export_macro "__declspec(dllexport)")
-endif()
-protobuf_generate(
-    TARGET
-    wpimath
-    EXPORT_MACRO
-    ${export_macro}
-    OUT_VAR
-    protobuf_generated_srcs
-    PROTOC_OUT_DIR
-    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf"
-    APPEND_PATH
-)
-target_sources(wpimath PUBLIC ${protobuf_generated_srcs})
-
 add_custom_command(
     TARGET wpimath
     PRE_LINK