diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 429c50374..95cba53e9 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -368,8 +368,8 @@ endif()
 # Configuration
 # =====================================
 
-message(STATUS "Configuration summary:")
-message(STATUS "----------------------")
+message(STATUS "Configuration details:")
+message(STATUS "---------------------")
 
 if (DEBUG_CMAKE)
     message(STATUS "CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM: ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM}")
@@ -404,13 +404,6 @@ if (DEBUG_CMAKE)
     message(STATUS "----------------------")
 endif()
 
-buildinfo_item("libelf" "yes")
-buildinfo_item("libelf" "no")
-buildinfo_item("libelf" "DO HAVE")
-buildinfo_item("libelf" "DON'T HAVE")
-
-buildinfo_output()
-
 if(HAVE_LIBELF)
     message(STATUS "DO HAVE    libelf")
 else()
@@ -503,3 +496,11 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 message(STATUS "----------------------")
+
+buildinfo_item("libelf" "yes")
+buildinfo_item("libelf" "no")
+buildinfo_item("libelf" "DO HAVE")
+buildinfo_item("libelf" "DON'T HAVE")
+
+# print the output collected by earlier calls to buildinfo_item()
+buildinfo_output()
diff --git a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.cmake b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.cmake
index 7bcc95b55..bd85e867e 100644
--- a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.cmake
+++ b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 function(buildinfo_setup)
   message(STATUS "BEGIN buildinfo_setup")
+  string(CONCAT BUILDINFO_INCLUDE_TOP
+    "  /* buildinfo-include.c - DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE! */\n"
+    "  /* This include file buildinfo-include.c is AUTOGENERATED by configure. */\n"
+    "  /* This file is meant to be \#include'ed, but is not a header file. */\n"
+  )
+  file(WRITE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/buildinfo-include.c"
+    "${BUILDINFO_INCLUDE_TOP}")
+  string(CONCAT BUILDINFO_SUMMARY_TOP
+    "Configuration summary:\n"
+    "----------------------\n"
+    "\n"
+  )
+  file(WRITE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/buildinfo-summary.txt"
+    "${BUILDINFO_SUMMARY_TOP}")
   message(STATUS "END buildinfo_setup")
 endfunction()
 
@@ -7,12 +21,22 @@ function(buildinfo_item KEY VAL)
   cmake_parse_arguments(arg "" "" "" ${ARGN})
   message(STATUS "BEGIN buildinfo_item")
   message(STATUS "  K,V: ${KEY}, ${VAL}")
+  file(APPEND "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/buildinfo-include.c"
+    "  {\"AUTO-BUIDLINFO ${KEY}\", \"${VAL}\"},\n")
+  file(APPEND "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/buildinfo-summary.txt"
+    "  * ${KEY}: ${VAL}\n")
   message(STATUS "END buildinfo_item")
 endfunction()
 
 function(buildinfo_output)
   message(STATUS "BEGIN buildinfo_output")
-  message(STATUS "END buildinfo_output")
+  file(APPEND "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/buildinfo-include.c"
+    "  /* end of buildinfo-include.c */\n")
+  #file(APPEND "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/buildinfo-summary.txt"
+  #  "\nThe End.\n")
+  file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/buildinfo-summary.txt" msg)
+  message("\n${msg}")
+  # message(STATUS "END buildinfo_output")
 endfunction()
 
 buildinfo_setup()
diff --git a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.m4 b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.m4
index 866b7d22b..1d4cd3741 100644
--- a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.m4
+++ b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.m4
@@ -13,15 +13,16 @@ m4_pattern_forbid([^BUILDINFO_SETUP])dnl
 dnl
 AC_DEFUN([BUILDINFO_SETUP], [dnl
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([BEGIN ][[$0]])
-cat>auto-buildinfo.msg<<EOF
+cat>buildinfo-summary.txt<<EOF
 
-AUTO-BUILDINFO
-============
+Configuration summary:
+----------------------
 
 EOF
-cat>auto-buildinfo.c<<EOF
-  /* auto-buildinfo.c - DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE! */
-  /* This include file auto-buildinfo.c is AUTOGENERATED by configure. */
+cat>buildinfo-include.c<<EOF
+  /* buildinfo-include.c - DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE! */
+  /* This include file buildinfo-include.c is AUTOGENERATED by configure. */
+  /* This file is meant to be \#include'ed, but is not a header file. */
 EOF
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([END ][[$0]])
 ])dnl
@@ -36,8 +37,8 @@ dnl
 AC_DEFUN([BUILDINFO_ITEM], [dnl
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([BEGIN ][[$0]])
 AC_REQUIRE([BUILDINFO_SETUP])
-printf "  * %-15s %s\n" "$1:" "$2" >> auto-buildinfo.msg
-printf "  {\"AUTO-BUILDINFO %s\", \"%s\"},\n" "$1" "$2" >> auto-buildinfo.c
+printf "  * %-15s %s\n" "$1:" "$2" >> buildinfo-summary.txt
+printf "  {\"AUTO-BUILDINFO %s\", \"%s\"},\n" "$1" "$2" >> buildinfo-include.c
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([END ][[$0]])
 ])dnl
 dnl
@@ -51,15 +52,15 @@ dnl
 AC_DEFUN([BUILDINFO_OUTPUT], [dnl
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([BEGIN ][[$0]])
 AC_REQUIRE([BUILDINFO_SETUP])
-cat>>auto-buildinfo.msg<<EOF
+cat>>buildinfo-summary.txt<<EOF
 
 EOF
-cat>>auto-buildinfo.c<<EOF
-  /* end of auto-buildinfo.c */
+cat>>buildinfo-include.c<<EOF
+  /* end of buildinfo-include.c */
 EOF
 dnl AC_MSG_NOTICE([END ][[$0]])
 
-cat auto-buildinfo.msg
+cat buildinfo-summary.txt
 ])dnl
 dnl
 dnl ####################################################################
diff --git a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.mk b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.mk
index a58117b8c..5a7a751ff 100644
--- a/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.mk
+++ b/src/build-helpers/buildinfo.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 EXTRA_DIST += build-helpers/buildinfo.m4
 EXTRA_DIST += build-helpers/buildinfo.md
 
-DISTCLEANFILES += auto-buildinfo.c
-DISTCLEANFILES += auto-buildinfo.msg
+DISTCLEANFILES += buildinfo-include.c
+DISTCLEANFILES += buildinfo-summary.txt
diff --git a/src/buildinfo.c b/src/buildinfo.c
index 79f9d41a4..28557a5fc 100644
--- a/src/buildinfo.c
+++ b/src/buildinfo.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const avr_buildinfo libavrdude_buildinfo = {
   {
     {"buildsystem", AVRDUDE_BUILDSYSTEM},
 
-#include <auto-buildinfo.c>
+#include <buildinfo-include.c>
 
     {"libelf",
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBELF
diff --git a/src/configure.ac b/src/configure.ac
index 2457af6c7..7eee50ddc 100644
--- a/src/configure.ac
+++ b/src/configure.ac
@@ -729,6 +729,8 @@ BUILDINFO_ITEM([libelf], [yes])
 BUILDINFO_ITEM([libelf], [no])
 BUILDINFO_ITEM([libelf], [DO HAVE])
 BUILDINFO_ITEM([libelf], [DON'T HAVE])
+
+# print the output collected by earlier calls to BUILDINFO_ITEM()
 BUILDINFO_OUTPUT()
 
 echo ""