diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 7a898741fa..21eda1b32f 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ Trunk (unreleased changes)
 
     HADOOP-7761. Improve the performance of raw comparisons. (todd)
 
+    HADOOP_7917. compilation of protobuf files fails in windows/cygwin. (tucu)
+
 Release 0.23.1 - Unreleased
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
index f477d385a5..aa3548e666 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
@@ -296,17 +296,29 @@
             </goals>
             <configuration>
               <target>
-                <echo file="${project.build.directory}/compile-proto.sh">
-                  PROTO_DIR=${basedir}/src/main/proto
-                  ls $PROTO_DIR &amp;> /dev/null
-                  if [ $? = 0 ]; then
-                    JAVA_DIR=${project.build.directory}/generated-sources/java
-                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR
-                    ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto | xargs -n 1 protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR
-                  fi
+                <echo file="target/compile-proto.sh">
+                    PROTO_DIR=src/main/proto
+                    JAVA_DIR=target/generated-sources/java
+                    which cygpath 2> /dev/null
+                    if [ $? = 1 ]; then
+                      IS_WIN=false
+                    else
+                      IS_WIN=true
+                      WIN_PROTO_DIR=`cygpath --windows $PROTO_DIR`
+                      WIN_JAVA_DIR=`cygpath --windows $JAVA_DIR`
+                    fi
+                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR 2> /dev/null
+                    for PROTO_FILE in `ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto 2> /dev/null`
+                    do
+                        if [ "$IS_WIN" = "true" ]; then
+                          protoc -I$WIN_PROTO_DIR --java_out=$WIN_JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        else
+                          protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        fi
+                    done
                 </echo>
-                <exec executable="sh" dir="${project.build.directory}" failonerror="true">
-                  <arg line="./compile-proto.sh"/>
+                <exec executable="sh" dir="${basedir}" failonerror="true">
+                  <arg line="target/compile-proto.sh"/>
                 </exec>
               </target>
             </configuration>
@@ -319,17 +331,29 @@
             </goals>
             <configuration>
               <target>
-                <echo file="${project.build.directory}/compile-test-proto.sh">
-                  PROTO_DIR=${basedir}/src/test/proto
-                  ls $PROTO_DIR &amp;> /dev/null
-                  if [ $? = 0 ]; then
-                    JAVA_DIR=${project.build.directory}/generated-test-sources/java
-                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR
-                    ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto | xargs -n 1 protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR
-                  fi
+                <echo file="target/compile-test-proto.sh">
+                    PROTO_DIR=src/test/proto
+                    JAVA_DIR=target/generated-test-sources/java
+                    which cygpath 2> /dev/null
+                    if [ $? = 1 ]; then
+                      IS_WIN=false
+                    else
+                      IS_WIN=true
+                      WIN_PROTO_DIR=`cygpath --windows $PROTO_DIR`
+                      WIN_JAVA_DIR=`cygpath --windows $JAVA_DIR`
+                    fi
+                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR 2> /dev/null
+                    for PROTO_FILE in `ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto 2> /dev/null`
+                    do
+                        if [ "$IS_WIN" = "true" ]; then
+                          protoc -I$WIN_PROTO_DIR --java_out=$WIN_JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        else
+                          protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        fi
+                    done
                 </echo>
-                <exec executable="sh" dir="${project.build.directory}" failonerror="true">
-                  <arg line="./compile-test-proto.sh"/>
+                <exec executable="sh" dir="${basedir}" failonerror="true">
+                  <arg line="target/compile-test-proto.sh"/>
                 </exec>
               </target>
             </configuration>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
index 25eaef2579..835b15a465 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/pom.xml
@@ -224,17 +224,29 @@
             </goals>
             <configuration>
               <target>
-                <echo file="${project.build.directory}/compile-proto.sh">
-                  PROTO_DIR=${basedir}/src/main/proto
-                  ls $PROTO_DIR &amp;> /dev/null
-                  if [ $? = 0 ]; then
-                    JAVA_DIR=${project.build.directory}/generated-sources/java
-                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR
-                    ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto | xargs -n 1 protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR
-                  fi
+                <echo file="target/compile-proto.sh">
+                    PROTO_DIR=src/main/proto
+                    JAVA_DIR=target/generated-sources/java
+                    which cygpath 2> /dev/null
+                    if [ $? = 1 ]; then
+                      IS_WIN=false
+                    else
+                      IS_WIN=true
+                      WIN_PROTO_DIR=`cygpath --windows $PROTO_DIR`
+                      WIN_JAVA_DIR=`cygpath --windows $JAVA_DIR`
+                    fi
+                    mkdir -p $JAVA_DIR 2> /dev/null
+                    for PROTO_FILE in `ls $PROTO_DIR/*.proto 2> /dev/null`
+                    do
+                        if [ "$IS_WIN" = "true" ]; then
+                          protoc -I$WIN_PROTO_DIR --java_out=$WIN_JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        else
+                          protoc -I$PROTO_DIR --java_out=$JAVA_DIR $PROTO_FILE
+                        fi
+                    done
                 </echo>
-                <exec executable="sh" dir="${project.build.directory}" failonerror="true">
-                  <arg line="./compile-proto.sh"/>
+                <exec executable="sh" dir="${basedir}" failonerror="true">
+                  <arg line="target/compile-proto.sh"/>
                 </exec>
               </target>
             </configuration>