diff --git a/extras/rpm/vpp.spec b/extras/rpm/vpp.spec
index cb847f2..e20bf1f 100644
--- a/extras/rpm/vpp.spec
+++ b/extras/rpm/vpp.spec
@@ -403,6 +403,9 @@
 %files devel
 %defattr(-,bin,bin)
 /usr/bin/vppapigen
+/usr/bin/vapi_c_gen.py
+/usr/bin/vapi_cpp_gen.py
+/usr/bin/vapi_json_parser.py
 %{_includedir}/*
 /usr/share/doc/vpp/examples/sample-plugin
 /usr/share/vpp
diff --git a/src/cmake/VPPConfig.cmake b/src/cmake/VPPConfig.cmake
index c6fd9fa..870c2a5 100644
--- a/src/cmake/VPPConfig.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/VPPConfig.cmake
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 
 find_path(VPP_INCLUDE_DIR PATH_SUFFIXES NAMES vppinfra/clib.h)
 find_program(VPP_APIGEN vppapigen)
+find_program(VPP_VAPI_C_GEN vapi_c_gen.py)
+find_program(VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN vapi_cpp_gen.py)
 
 if(VPP_INCLUDE_DIR AND VPP_APIGEN)
   include_directories (${VPP_INCLUDE_DIR})
diff --git a/src/cmake/api.cmake b/src/cmake/api.cmake
index 922c83a..c936f73 100644
--- a/src/cmake/api.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/api.cmake
@@ -56,24 +56,95 @@
 endfunction()
 
 ##############################################################################
+# VPP-API
+##############################################################################
+function(vpp_generate_vapi_c_header f)
+  get_filename_component(output ${f}.vapi.h NAME)
+  set (output_name ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/${output})
+  if(NOT VPP_VAPI_C_GEN)
+    set(VPP_VAPI_C_GEN ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_c_gen.py)
+    set(VPP_VAPI_C_GEN_DEPENDS
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_c_gen.py
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_json_parser.py
+    )
+  endif()
+
+  # C VAPI Headers
+  set(input ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${f}.json)
+  add_custom_command(
+    OUTPUT ${output_name}
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi
+    COMMAND ${VPP_VAPI_C_GEN}
+    ARGS --remove-path ${input}
+    DEPENDS ${input} ${VPP_VAPI_C_GEN_DEPENDS}
+    COMMENT "Generating VAPI C header ${output_name}"
+  )
+  install(
+    FILES ${output_name}
+    DESTINATION include/vapi
+    COMPONENT vpp-dev
+  )
+endfunction ()
+
+function (vpp_generate_vapi_cpp_header f)
+  get_filename_component(output ${f}.vapi.hpp NAME)
+  set (output_name ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/${output})
+  if(NOT VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN)
+    set(VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_cpp_gen.py)
+    set(VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN_DEPENDS
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_cpp_gen.py
+        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/vapi_json_parser.py
+    )
+  endif()
+  # C++ VAPI Headers
+  set(input ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${f}.json)
+  add_custom_command(
+    OUTPUT ${output_name}
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi
+    COMMAND ${VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN}
+    ARGS --gen-h-prefix=vapi --remove-path ${input}
+    DEPENDS ${input} ${VPP_VAPI_CPP_GEN_DEPENDS}
+    COMMENT "Generating VAPI C++ header ${output_name}"
+  )
+  install(
+    FILES ${output_name}
+    DESTINATION include/vapi
+    COMPONENT vpp-dev
+  )
+endfunction ()
+
+
+##############################################################################
 # generate the .h and .json files for a .api file
 #  @param file - the name of the .api
 #  @param dir  - the install directory under ROOT/share/vpp/api to place the
 #                generated .json file
 ##############################################################################
 function(vpp_generate_api_header file dir component)
-    vpp_generate_api_c_header (${file})
-    vpp_generate_api_json_header (${file} ${dir} ${component})
+  vpp_generate_api_c_header (${file})
+  vpp_generate_api_json_header (${file} ${dir} ${component})
+  vpp_generate_vapi_c_header (${file})
+  vpp_generate_vapi_cpp_header (${file})
 endfunction()
 
-function(vpp_add_api_files name)
+function(vpp_add_api_files name dir component)
   unset(header_files)
   set(target ${name}_api_headers)
   file(RELATIVE_PATH rpath ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
   foreach(file ${ARGN})
-    vpp_generate_api_header (${file} core vpp)
-    list(APPEND header_files ${file}.h ${file}.json)
-    set_property(GLOBAL APPEND PROPERTY VPP_API_FILES ${rpath}/${file})
+    vpp_generate_api_header (${file} ${dir} ${component})
+    # Basic api headers get installed in a subdirectory according to
+    # their component name, but vapi is expected to be found directly under
+    # "vapi". Both by in-source components (e.g. vpp-api/vapi/vapi.c), and
+    # out-of-tree plugins use #include <vapi/component.api.vapi.h>.
+    # ${file} contains the subdirectory, so strip it here.
+    get_filename_component(name ${file} NAME)
+    list(APPEND header_files
+      ${file}.h
+      ${file}.json
+      ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/${name}.vapi.h
+      ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vpp-api/vapi/${name}.vapi.hpp
+    )
   endforeach()
   add_custom_target(${target} DEPENDS ${header_files})
 endfunction()
diff --git a/src/cmake/library.cmake b/src/cmake/library.cmake
index fd6c077..dc14ae5 100644
--- a/src/cmake/library.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/library.cmake
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
   endif()
 
   if(ARG_API_FILES)
-    vpp_add_api_files(${lib} ${ARG_API_FILES})
+    vpp_add_api_files(${lib} core vpp ${ARG_API_FILES})
     foreach(file ${ARG_API_FILES})
       get_filename_component(dir ${file} DIRECTORY)
       install(
diff --git a/src/cmake/plugin.cmake b/src/cmake/plugin.cmake
index a0c3de7..2e2749a 100644
--- a/src/cmake/plugin.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/plugin.cmake
@@ -31,12 +31,10 @@
     endif()
   endif()
 
-  file(RELATIVE_PATH rpath ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
+  vpp_add_api_files(${plugin_name} plugins ${PLUGIN_COMPONENT} ${PLUGIN_API_FILES})
   foreach(f ${PLUGIN_API_FILES})
     get_filename_component(dir ${f} DIRECTORY)
-    vpp_generate_api_header(${f} plugins ${PLUGIN_COMPONENT})
     list(APPEND api_includes ${f}.h ${f}.json)
-    set_property(GLOBAL APPEND PROPERTY VPP_API_FILES ${rpath}/${f})
     install(
       FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${f}.h
       ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${f}_enum.h
@@ -47,6 +45,9 @@
   endforeach()
   add_library(${plugin_name} SHARED ${PLUGIN_SOURCES} ${api_includes})
   set_target_properties(${plugin_name} PROPERTIES NO_SONAME 1)
+  if(PLUGIN_API_FILES)
+    add_dependencies(${plugin_name} ${plugin_name}_api_headers)
+  endif()
   if(NOT VPP_EXTERNAL_PROJECT)
     add_dependencies(${plugin_name} vpp_version_h api_headers)
   endif()
diff --git a/src/vpp-api/vapi/CMakeLists.txt b/src/vpp-api/vapi/CMakeLists.txt
index 06c9f85..4c74ae8 100644
--- a/src/vpp-api/vapi/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/vpp-api/vapi/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,60 +16,13 @@
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/..
 )
 
-unset(VAPICLIENT_API_C_HEADERS)
-unset(VAPICLIENT_API_CPP_HEADERS)
-
-get_property(VPP_API_FILES GLOBAL PROPERTY VPP_API_FILES)
-foreach(f ${VPP_API_FILES})
-  get_filename_component(output ${f}.vapi.h NAME)
-  set(input ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${f}.json)
-
-  # C VAPI Headers
-  add_custom_command(
-    OUTPUT ${output}
-    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vapi_c_gen.py
-    ARGS --remove-path ${input}
-    DEPENDS ${input} vapi_c_gen.py vapi_json_parser.py api_headers
-    COMMENT "Generating VAPI C header ${output}"
-  )
-  install(
-    FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${output}
-    DESTINATION include/vapi
-    COMPONENT vpp-dev
-  )
-  list(APPEND VAPICLIENT_API_CPP_HEADERS ${output})
-
-  # C++ VAPI Headers
-  get_filename_component(output ${f}.vapi.hpp NAME)
-  add_custom_command(
-    OUTPUT ${output}
-    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vapi_cpp_gen.py
-    ARGS --gen-h-prefix=vapi --remove-path ${input}
-    DEPENDS ${input} vapi_cpp_gen.py vapi_json_parser.py api_headers
-    COMMENT "Generating VAPI C++ header ${output}"
-  )
-  install(
-    FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${output}
-    DESTINATION include/vapi
-    COMPONENT vpp-dev
-  )
-  list(APPEND VAPICLIENT_API_CPP_HEADERS ${output})
-endforeach ()
-
-add_custom_target(all-vapi-headers DEPENDS
-  ${VAPICLIENT_API_C_HEADERS}
-  ${VAPICLIENT_API_CPP_HEADERS}
-)
-
 add_vpp_library(vapiclient
   SOURCES
   vapi.c
   libvapiclient.map
 
   LINK_LIBRARIES vppinfra vlibmemoryclient svm pthread m rt
-  DEPENDS all-vapi-headers
+  DEPENDS api_headers
 )
 
 install(
@@ -95,3 +48,13 @@
   COMPONENT
     vpp-dev
 )
+
+install(
+  PROGRAMS
+  vapi_c_gen.py
+  vapi_cpp_gen.py
+  vapi_json_parser.py
+
+  DESTINATION bin
+  COMPONENT vpp-dev
+)
diff --git a/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt b/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 5aaaab7..8f7c2cf 100644
--- a/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
   api/vpe.api
 )
 
-vpp_add_api_files(vpp ${VPP_API_FILES})
+vpp_add_api_files(vpp core vpp ${VPP_API_FILES})
 
 foreach(file ${VPP_API_FILES})
   get_filename_component(dir ${file} DIRECTORY)