diff --git a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
index db1776ac29..5e81514d4f 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio10Generator.cxx
@@ -17,7 +17,12 @@ public:
   virtual void CharacterDataHandler(const char* data, int length)
   {
     if (this->DoGUID) {
-      this->GUID.assign(data + 1, length - 2);
+      if (data[0] == '{') {
+        // remove surrounding curly brackets
+        this->GUID.assign(data + 1, length - 2);
+      } else {
+        this->GUID.assign(data, length);
+      }
       this->DoGUID = false;
     }
   }
diff --git a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
index a1771ee132..afd71c813c 100644
--- a/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLocalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
@@ -2079,7 +2079,10 @@ public:
         if (strcmp(atts[i], "ProjectGUID") == 0) {
           if (atts[i + 1]) {
             this->GUID = atts[i + 1];
-            this->GUID = this->GUID.substr(1, this->GUID.size() - 2);
+            if (this->GUID[0] == '{') {
+              // remove surrounding curly brackets
+              this->GUID = this->GUID.substr(1, this->GUID.size() - 2);
+            }
           } else {
             this->GUID.clear();
           }