diff --git a/po/CMakeLists.txt b/po/CMakeLists.txt
index cb856ae17..1b6d77fa4 100644
--- a/po/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/po/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,43 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
-PROJECT(ICEWM CXX)
-
-# yes, FindGettext.cmake exists but it's not really handy :-(
-# XXX: document -DEXTRA_MSGMERGE=--verbose -DEXTRA_MSGFMT=--verbose
+project(ICEWM CXX)
+
+#
+# Custom PO file processing (POT extraction/update, PO merging, MO building).
+#
+# Callable custom targets (part of ALL target):
+#
+# The default rule set updates pot, *.po, and compiles *.(g)mo from the updated
+# versions. Also some CACHED options:
+# - with PO_REPLACE options, the updated files are sync'ed back to source code
+#   folder in the build phase.
+# - with PO_REPLACE_ONCE the original PO/POT files are replaced once and then
+#   not again (cached)
+# - with SKIP_TRANSLATIONS, the whole PO processing is turned off and MO files
+#   are NOT installed. This might be handy in the development process.
+#
+# when gettext tools are missing, no processing is performed.
+#
+
+option(SKIP_TRANSLATIONS "[DEV] Don't perform PO/MO file creation or installation" off)
+option(PO_VERBOSE "[DEV] Extra verbosity in gettext processing (extends EXTRA_MSGMERGE and EXTRA_MSGMERGE)" off)
+option(PO_REPLACE "[DEV] Install updated POT/PO files in source folder" off)
+option(PO_REPLACE_ONCE "[DEV] Like PO_REPLACE but turns itself off after one run" off)
+
+if(SKIP_TRANSLATIONS)
+    message(STATUS "Language file processing disabled by SKIP_TRANSLATIONS option")
+    return()
+endif()
 
-SET(EXTRA_MSGMERGE "--quiet")
+if(PO_VERBOSE)
+    list(APPEND EXTRA_MSGMERGE --verbose)
+    list(APPEND EXTRA_MSGFMT --verbose)
+else()
+    list(APPEND EXTRA_MSGMERGE --quiet)
+endif()
 
+#
+# NOTE: FindGettext.cmake exists but it's not really handy :-(
+#
 find_program(gettext gettext)
 find_program(xgettext xgettext)
 find_program(msgmerge msgmerge)
@@ -14,81 +46,106 @@ find_program(msgfmt msgfmt)
 set(COPYRIGHT_HOLDER "Marko Macek <Marko.Macek@gmx.net>")
 set(BUG_ADDRESS "https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues")
 
-if(gettext AND xgettext AND msgmerge AND msgfmt)
-	file (STRINGS "POTFILES.in" SRCS)
-	# grrr, for make dependency the path needs to match the perspective from the po/ directory.
-	# FIXME, how to simplify? Use abs.path for now
-	foreach(_src ${SRCS})
-		LIST(APPEND SRCSABSOLUTE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/${_src}")
-	endforeach()
-	FILE(GLOB POS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.po")
-	foreach(_src ${POS})
-		get_filename_component(_src "${_src}" NAME_WE)
-		LIST(APPEND LANGUAGES ${_src})
-	endforeach()
-
-	SET(XGETTEXT_CMD xgettext --from-code=UTF-8 -language=CXX --add-comments=TRANSLATORS: --keyword=_ --keyword=N_ -s --package-name=${PACKAGE} --copyright-holder="${COPYRIGHT_HOLDER}"  --package-version="${VERSION}" --msgid-bugs-address="${BUG_ADDRESS}" )
-	SET(_potFile "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${PACKAGE}.pot")
-
-	# XXX: it "escapes" spaces in arguments no matter how they are quoted. Find a workaround!
-	ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(OUTPUT stamp-potfile
-		COMMAND ${XGETTEXT_CMD} -o "${_potFile}" ${SRCS}
-		DEPENDS ${SRCSABSOLUTE}
-		WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
-		COMMENT "Extracting translatable messages to ${_potFile} -- may require config restart!")
-	ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(update_pot DEPENDS stamp-potfile)
-	message(VERBOSE "Adding update_pot target to update ${_potFile}")
-
-	if(EXISTS ${_potFile})
-
-		if(SKIP_TRANSLATIONS)
-			message(VERBOSE "NOTE: SKIP_TRANSLATIONS is set, building i18n files is not part of the default build!")
-			ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(translations)
-		else()
-			ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(translations ALL)
-		endif()
-
-		foreach(_lang ${LANGUAGES})
-			SET(_tempPO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_lang}.po")
-			set(_srcPO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_lang}.po")
-			message(VERBOSE "Generating updated ${_tempPO} from ${_srcPO}")
-			ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(OUTPUT ${_tempPO}
-				COMMAND msgmerge -o "${_tempPO}" ${EXTRA_MSGMERGE} -s "${_srcPO}" "${_potFile}"
-				WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
-				DEPENDS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_lang}.po" ${_potFile}
-				COMMENT "Updated: ${_tempPO}")
-			ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(generate-${_lang}.po DEPENDS ${_tempPO})
-
-			if(PO_UPDATE)
-				set(SRC_UPDATE COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different "${_tempPO}" "${_srcPO}")
-			else()
-				set(SRC_UPDATE )
-			endif()
-
-			SET(_tempMO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_lang}.gmo")
-			ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(OUTPUT "${_tempMO}"
-				COMMAND msgfmt -o ${_tempMO} ${EXTRA_MSGFMT} ${_tempPO}
-				${SRC_UPDATE}
-				DEPENDS ${_tempPO}
-				WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
-			#COMMENT "Compiled: ${_tempMO}")
-			ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(generate-${_lang}.gmo DEPENDS ${_tempMO})
-			install(FILES ${_tempMO} DESTINATION "${LOCDIR}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/" RENAME "${PACKAGE}.mo" OPTIONAL)
-			add_dependencies(translations generate-${_lang}.gmo)
-
-			# mimic the content of the installation folder, for development purposes
-			set(PG "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/playground")
-			file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PG}")
-			file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PG}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/")
-			file(CREATE_LINK ${_tempMO} "${PG}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/${PACKAGE}.mo" SYMBOLIC)
-
-		endforeach()
-
-	endif()
+if(NOT gettext OR NOT xgettext OR NOT msgmerge OR NOT msgfmt)
+    message(STATUS "Some of those tools not found, skipping translations! gettext, xgettext, msgmerge, msgfmt")
+    return()
+endif()
 
+set(_potFilePublic "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${PACKAGE}.pot")
+set(_potFile "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PACKAGE}.pot")
+set(_potFileStamp "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PACKAGE}.pot.stamp")
+
+# NOTE: xgettext uses the -f option (and started from project dir so that
+# unwanted path information is not leaked) but we also want to track the file
+# dependencies, thus building the list here explicitly.
+file (STRINGS "POTFILES.in" SRCS_IN)
+set(SRCS)
+foreach(_src ${SRCS_IN})
+    cmake_path(ABSOLUTE_PATH _src BASE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} NORMALIZE)
+    list(APPEND SRCS ${_src})
+endforeach()
+
+file(GLOB POS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.po")
+foreach(_src ${POS})
+    get_filename_component(_src "${_src}" NAME_WE)
+    # Ignore junk
+    if("${_src}" MATCHES "^[a-z][a-z](_[A-Z][A-Z])?$")
+        list(APPEND LANGUAGES ${_src})
+    endif()
+endforeach()
+
+set(XGETTEXT_CMD xgettext -f po/POTFILES.in --from-code=UTF-8 -language=CXX --add-comments=TRANSLATORS: --keyword=_ --keyword=N_  --package-name=${PACKAGE} --copyright-holder="${COPYRIGHT_HOLDER}"  --package-version="${VERSION}" --msgid-bugs-address="${BUG_ADDRESS}" -o "${_potFile}" )
+
+if(PO_REPLACE OR PO_REPLACE_ONCE)
+    set(SRC_UPDATE COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different "${_potFile}" "${_potFilePublic}")
 else()
-	message(STATUS "Some of those tools not found, skipping translations! gettext, xgettext, msgmerge, msgfmt")
+    set(SRC_UPDATE )
+endif()
 
+add_custom_command(OUTPUT "${_potFileStamp}"
+    DEPENDS ${SRCS}
+    BYPRODUCTS "${_potFile}"
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}"
+    VERBATIM
+
+    COMMAND ${XGETTEXT_CMD} 
+
+    ${SRC_UPDATE}
+
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E touch "${_potFileStamp}"
+
+    COMMENT "Extracting translatable messages")
+
+add_custom_target(update_pot DEPENDS "${_potFileStamp}")
+#message(VERBOSE "Adding non-default update_pot target to update ${_potFile}")
+
+add_custom_target(translations ALL)
+
+foreach(_lang ${LANGUAGES})
+    set(_tempPO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_lang}.po")
+    set(_srcPO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_lang}.po")
+    message(VERBOSE "Generating updated ${_tempPO} from ${_srcPO}")
+    add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${_tempPO}
+        COMMAND msgmerge -o "${_tempPO}" ${EXTRA_MSGMERGE} -s "${_srcPO}" "${_potFile}"
+        #WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
+        DEPENDS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_lang}.po" "${_potFile}" update_pot
+        #COMMENT "Updated: ${_tempPO}"
+        VERBATIM)
+    add_custom_target(generate-${_lang}.po DEPENDS ${_tempPO} ALL)
+
+    if(PO_REPLACE OR PO_REPLACE_ONCE)
+        set(SRC_UPDATE COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different "${_tempPO}" "${_srcPO}")
+        message(STATUS "Shall replace: ${_srcPO}")
+    else()
+        set(SRC_UPDATE )
+    endif()
+
+    set(_tempMO "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_lang}.gmo")
+    add_custom_command(OUTPUT "${_tempMO}"
+        COMMAND msgfmt -o ${_tempMO} ${EXTRA_MSGFMT} ${_tempPO}
+        ${SRC_UPDATE}
+        DEPENDS ${_tempPO}
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
+        VERBATIM)
+    add_custom_target(generate-${_lang}.gmo DEPENDS ${_tempMO})
+    add_dependencies(translations generate-${_lang}.gmo)
+
+    # Install user products 
+    install(FILES ${_tempMO} DESTINATION "${LOCDIR}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/" RENAME "${PACKAGE}.mo" OPTIONAL)
+
+    # mimic the content of the installation folder, for development purposes
+    set(PG "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/playground")
+    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PG}")
+    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${PG}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/")
+    file(CREATE_LINK ${_tempMO} "${PG}/${_lang}/LC_MESSAGES/${PACKAGE}.mo" SYMBOLIC)
+
+endforeach()
+
+if(PO_REPLACE_ONCE)
+    unset(PO_REPLACE)
+    unset(PO_REPLACE_ONCE)
+    unset(PO_REPLACE CACHE)
+    unset(PO_REPLACE_ONCE CACHE)
 endif()
 
-# vim: set noexpandtab:ts=2:shiftwidth=2:
+# vim: ts=4 shiftwidth=4 et