diff --git a/core/rosbuild/private.cmake b/core/rosbuild/private.cmake
index dc86c5f9..3e0385cb 100644
--- a/core/rosbuild/private.cmake
+++ b/core/rosbuild/private.cmake
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ macro(_rosbuild_add_library lib libname type)
   rosbuild_add_compile_flags(${lib} ${ROS_COMPILE_FLAGS})
   rosbuild_add_link_flags(${lib} ${ROS_LINK_FLAGS})
 
-  # Make sure to do any prebuild working (e.g., msg/srv generation) before
+  # Make sure to do any prebuild work (e.g., msg/srv generation) before
   # building this target.
   add_dependencies(${lib} rosbuild_precompile)
 endmacro(_rosbuild_add_library)
diff --git a/core/rosbuild/public.cmake b/core/rosbuild/public.cmake
index 2495e1ea..d67f38b9 100644
--- a/core/rosbuild/public.cmake
+++ b/core/rosbuild/public.cmake
@@ -326,6 +326,11 @@ macro(rosbuild_init)
   add_custom_target(rospack_genmsg)
   add_custom_target(rospack_gensrv)
 
+  # Add a target that will fire before doing message or service generation.
+  # This is used by packages that do automatic generation of message and
+  # service files.
+  add_custom_target(rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
+
   # Add a target that will fire before compiling anything.  This is used by
   # message and service generation, as well as things outside of ros, like
   # dynamic_reconfigure.
@@ -466,7 +471,7 @@ macro(rosbuild_add_executable exe)
   rosbuild_add_compile_flags(${exe} ${ROS_COMPILE_FLAGS})
   rosbuild_add_link_flags(${exe} ${ROS_LINK_FLAGS})
 
-  # Make sure to do any prebuild working (e.g., msg/srv generation) before
+  # Make sure to do any prebuild work (e.g., msg/srv generation) before
   # building this target.
   add_dependencies(${exe} rosbuild_precompile)
 
diff --git a/core/roscpp/cmake/roscpp.cmake b/core/roscpp/cmake/roscpp.cmake
index d99e496e..08edc9a5 100644
--- a/core/roscpp/cmake/roscpp.cmake
+++ b/core/roscpp/cmake/roscpp.cmake
@@ -25,8 +25,11 @@ macro(genmsg_cpp)
   # Create a target that depends on the union of all the autogenerated
   # files
   add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_genmsg_cpp DEPENDS ${_autogen})
-  # Add our target to the top-level genmsg target, which will be fired if
-  # the user calls genmsg()
+  # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+  # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+  add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_genmsg_cpp rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
+  # Add our target to the top-level rospack_genmsg target, which will be
+  # fired if the user calls genmsg()
   add_dependencies(rospack_genmsg ROSBUILD_genmsg_cpp)
 endmacro(genmsg_cpp)
 
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ macro(gensrv_cpp)
   # Create a target that depends on the union of all the autogenerated
   # files
   add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_gensrv_cpp DEPENDS ${_autogen})
+  # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+  # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+  add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_gensrv_cpp rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
   # Add our target to the top-level gensrv target, which will be fired if
   # the user calls gensrv()
   add_dependencies(rospack_gensrv ROSBUILD_gensrv_cpp)
diff --git a/core/roslisp/cmake/roslisp.cmake b/core/roslisp/cmake/roslisp.cmake
index 2542b534..cbb013e2 100644
--- a/core/roslisp/cmake/roslisp.cmake
+++ b/core/roslisp/cmake/roslisp.cmake
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ macro(genmsg_lisp)
   # Create a target that depends on the union of all the autogenerated
   # files
   add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_genmsg_lisp DEPENDS ${_autogen})
+  # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+  # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+  add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_genmsg_lisp rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
   # Add our target to the top-level genmsg target, which will be fired if
   # the user calls genmsg()
   add_dependencies(rospack_genmsg ROSBUILD_genmsg_lisp)
@@ -63,6 +66,9 @@ macro(gensrv_lisp)
   # Create a target that depends on the union of all the autogenerated
   # files
   add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_gensrv_lisp DEPENDS ${_autogen})
+  # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+  # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+  add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_gensrv_lisp rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
   # Add our target to the top-level gensrv target, which will be fired if
   # the user calls gensrv()
   add_dependencies(rospack_gensrv ROSBUILD_gensrv_lisp)
diff --git a/core/rospy/cmake/rospy.cmake b/core/rospy/cmake/rospy.cmake
index ca61e07a..8ccb472c 100644
--- a/core/rospy/cmake/rospy.cmake
+++ b/core/rospy/cmake/rospy.cmake
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ macro(genmsg_py)
 
     # A target that depends on generation of the __init__.py
     add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_genmsg_py DEPENDS ${_output_py})
+    # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+    # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+    add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_genmsg_py rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
     # Add our target to the top-level genmsg target, which will be fired if
     # the user calls genmsg()
     add_dependencies(rospack_genmsg ROSBUILD_genmsg_py)
@@ -83,6 +86,9 @@ macro(gensrv_py)
   
     # A target that depends on generation of the __init__.py
     add_custom_target(ROSBUILD_gensrv_py DEPENDS ${_output_py})
+    # Make our target depend on rosbuild_premsgsrvgen, to allow any
+    # pre-msg/srv generation steps to be done first.
+    add_dependencies(ROSBUILD_gensrv_py rosbuild_premsgsrvgen)
     # Add our target to the top-level gensrv target, which will be fired if
     # the user calls gensrv()
     add_dependencies(rospack_gensrv ROSBUILD_gensrv_py)