diff --git a/templates/vsprojects/protobuf.props.template b/templates/vsprojects/protobuf.props.template
index 48f9431c1cf..3ae7c745ded 100644
--- a/templates/vsprojects/protobuf.props.template
+++ b/templates/vsprojects/protobuf.props.template
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>
     <Link>
       <AdditionalDependencies>libprotobuf.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
-      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
+      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemGroup />
diff --git a/templates/vsprojects/protoc.props.template b/templates/vsprojects/protoc.props.template
index ced6028a4be..2c3844a9a4e 100644
--- a/templates/vsprojects/protoc.props.template
+++ b/templates/vsprojects/protoc.props.template
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <AdditionalDependencies>libprotoc.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
-      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
+      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemGroup />
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_protoc.bat b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_protoc.bat
index 3246a903d0b..b2bf86da404 100644
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_protoc.bat
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_protoc.bat
@@ -30,15 +30,16 @@
 mkdir artifacts
 
 setlocal
-cd third_party/protobuf
+cd third_party/protobuf/cmake
 
-cd cmake
-cmake -G "%generator%" -Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF || goto :error
+mkdir build & cd build
+mkdir solution & cd solution
+cmake -G "%generator%" -Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF ../.. || goto :error
 endlocal
 
 call vsprojects/build_plugins.bat || goto :error
 
-xcopy /Y third_party\protobuf\cmake\Release\protoc.exe artifacts\ || goto :error
+xcopy /Y third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\Release\protoc.exe artifacts\ || goto :error
 xcopy /Y vsprojects\Release\*_plugin.exe artifacts\ || xcopy /Y vsprojects\x64\Release\*_plugin.exe artifacts\ || goto :error
 
 goto :EOF
diff --git a/vsprojects/README.md b/vsprojects/README.md
index 56d9f560098..7af69c2726b 100644
--- a/vsprojects/README.md
+++ b/vsprojects/README.md
@@ -83,10 +83,12 @@ Windows .exe binaries of gRPC protoc plugins.
 1. Follow instructions in `third_party\protobuf\cmake\README.md` to create Visual Studio 2013 projects for protobuf.
 ```
 $ cd third_party/protobuf/cmake
-$ cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013"
+$ mkdir build & cd build
+$ mkdir solution & cd solution
+$ cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013" -Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF ../..
 ```
 
-2. Open solution `third_party\protobuf\cmake\protobuf.sln` and build it in Release mode. That will build libraries `libprotobuf.lib` and `libprotoc.lib` needed for the next step.
+2. Open solution `third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\protobuf.sln` and build it in Release mode. That will build libraries `libprotobuf.lib` and `libprotoc.lib` needed for the next step.
 
 3. Open solution `vsprojects\grpc_protoc_plugins.sln` and build it in Release mode. As a result, you should obtain a set of gRPC protoc plugin binaries (`grpc_cpp_plugin.exe`, `grpc_csharp_plugin.exe`, ...)
 
diff --git a/vsprojects/build_plugins.bat b/vsprojects/build_plugins.bat
index 7c8e056dc4e..ae5c5f09bed 100644
--- a/vsprojects/build_plugins.bat
+++ b/vsprojects/build_plugins.bat
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ cd /d %~dp0
 @call "%VS120COMNTOOLS%\..\..\vc\vcvarsall.bat" x86
 
 @rem Build third_party/protobuf
-msbuild ..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\protobuf.sln /p:Configuration=Release || goto :error
+msbuild ..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\protobuf.sln /p:Configuration=Release || goto :error
 
 @rem Build the C# protoc plugins
 msbuild grpc_protoc_plugins.sln /p:Configuration=Release || goto :error
diff --git a/vsprojects/protobuf.props b/vsprojects/protobuf.props
index b1de8af27a5..b8283135729 100644
--- a/vsprojects/protobuf.props
+++ b/vsprojects/protobuf.props
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" /> <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" /> <PropertyGroup /> <ItemDefinitionGroup> <Link> <AdditionalDependencies>libprotobuf.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies> <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories> </Link> </ItemDefinitionGroup> <ItemGroup /> </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" /> <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" /> <PropertyGroup /> <ItemDefinitionGroup> <Link> <AdditionalDependencies>libprotobuf.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies> <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories> </Link> </ItemDefinitionGroup> <ItemGroup /> </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vsprojects/protoc.props b/vsprojects/protoc.props
index 1bdc07193bc..87fff8f1288 100644
--- a/vsprojects/protoc.props
+++ b/vsprojects/protoc.props
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" /> <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" /> <PropertyGroup /> <ItemDefinitionGroup> <ClCompile> <DisableSpecificWarnings>4244;4267;%(DisableSpecificWarnings)</DisableSpecificWarnings> </ClCompile> <Link> <AdditionalDependencies>libprotoc.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies> <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories> </Link> </ItemDefinitionGroup> <ItemGroup /> </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ImportGroup Label="PropertySheets" /> <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" /> <PropertyGroup /> <ItemDefinitionGroup> <ClCompile> <DisableSpecificWarnings>4244;4267;%(DisableSpecificWarnings)</DisableSpecificWarnings> </ClCompile> <Link> <AdditionalDependencies>libprotoc.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies> <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(SolutionDir)\..\third_party\protobuf\cmake\build\solution\$(Configuration);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories> </Link> </ItemDefinitionGroup> <ItemGroup /> </Project>
\ No newline at end of file