diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8ea64e142b..96bc56e3e6 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ build_template_app:
     SDK_PATH: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"
     IDF_PATH: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"
     GIT_STRATEGY: clone
+    BATCH_BUILD: "1"
 
   script:
     - git clone https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf-template.git
@@ -39,13 +40,11 @@ build_template_app:
     # using on esp-idf. If it doesn't exist then just stick to the default
     # branch
     - git checkout ${CI_BUILD_REF_NAME} || echo "Using esp-idf-template default branch..."
-    - make defconfig
     # Test debug build (default)
     - make all V=1
     # Now test release build
     - make clean
     - sed -i.bak -e's/CONFIG_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL_DEBUG\=y/CONFIG_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL_RELEASE=y/' sdkconfig
-    - make defconfig
     - make all V=1
     # Check if there are any stray printf/ets_printf references in WiFi libs
     - cd ../components/esp32/lib
@@ -63,6 +62,8 @@ build_template_app:
     SDK_PATH: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"
     IDF_PATH: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"
     GIT_STRATEGY: clone
+    BATCH_BUILD: "1"
+
 
 build_ssc:
   <<: *build_template
@@ -103,7 +104,6 @@ build_esp_idf_tests:
   script:
     - cd tools/unit-test-app
     - git checkout ${CI_BUILD_REF_NAME} || echo "Using default branch..."
-    - make defconfig
     - make TESTS_ALL=1
     - python UnitTestParser.py
 
diff --git a/components/bootloader/src/main/Makefile.projbuild b/components/bootloader/src/main/Makefile.projbuild
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c368c68416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/bootloader/src/main/Makefile.projbuild
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Submodules normally added in component.mk, but fully qualified
+# paths can be added at this level (we need binary librtc to be
+# available to link bootloader).
+COMPONENT_SUBMODULES += $(IDF_PATH)/components/esp32/lib
diff --git a/components/bootloader/src/main/component.mk b/components/bootloader/src/main/component.mk
index 2069665d1a..12fdf8efa0 100644
--- a/components/bootloader/src/main/component.mk
+++ b/components/bootloader/src/main/component.mk
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ COMPONENT_ADD_LDFLAGS := -L $(COMPONENT_PATH) -lmain $(addprefix -T ,$(LINKER_SC
 
 COMPONENT_ADD_LINKER_DEPS := $(LINKER_SCRIPTS)
 
-ifdef IS_BOOTLOADER_BUILD
 # following lines are a workaround to link librtc into the
 # bootloader, until clock setting code is in a source-based esp-idf
 # component. See also rtc_printf() in bootloader_start.c
+#
+# See also matching COMPONENT_SUBMODULES line in Makefile.projbuild
 COMPONENT_ADD_LDFLAGS += -L $(IDF_PATH)/components/esp32/lib/ -lrtc_clk -lrtc
 COMPONENT_EXTRA_INCLUDES += $(IDF_PATH)/components/esp32/
-endif
diff --git a/docs/build-system.rst b/docs/build-system.rst
index 0973eeb31f..b3abbd28f5 100644
--- a/docs/build-system.rst
+++ b/docs/build-system.rst
@@ -305,6 +305,17 @@ Second Level: Component Makefiles
 
 To better understand the component make process, have a read through the ``component_wrapper.mk`` file and some of the ``component.mk`` files included with esp-idf.
 
+Running Make Non-Interactively
+------------------------------
+
+When running ``make`` in a situation where you don't want interactive prompts (for example: inside an IDE or an automated build system) append ``BATCH_BUILD=1`` to the make arguments (or set it as an environment variable).
+
+Setting ``BATCH_BUILD`` implies the following:
+
+- Verbose output (same as ``V=1``, see below). If you don't want verbose output, also set ``V=0``.
+- If the project configuration is missing new configuration items (from new components or esp-idf updates) then the project use the default values, instead of prompting the user for each item.
+- If the build system needs to invoke ``menuconfig``, an error is printed and the build fails.
+
 Debugging The Make Process
 --------------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/eclipse-setup-windows.rst b/docs/eclipse-setup-windows.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aeb011c0c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/eclipse-setup-windows.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+Eclipse IDE on Windows
+**********************
+
+Configuring Eclipse on Windows requires some different steps. The full configuration steps for Windows are shown below.
+
+(For OS X and Linux instructions, see the :doc:`Eclipse IDE page <eclipse-setup>`.)
+
+Installing Eclipse IDE
+======================
+
+Follow the steps under :ref:`Installing Eclipse IDE <eclipse-install-steps>` for all platforms.
+
+.. _eclipse-windows-setup:
+
+Setting up Eclipse on Windows
+=============================
+
+Once your new Eclipse installation launches, follow these steps:
+
+Import New Project
+------------------
+
+* Eclipse makes use of the Makefile support in ESP-IDF. This means you need to start by creating an ESP-IDF project. You can use the idf-template project from github, or open one of the examples in the esp-idf examples subdirectory.
+
+* Once Eclipse is running, choose File -> Import...
+
+* In the dialog that pops up, choose "C/C++" -> "Existing Code as Makefile Project" and click Next.
+
+* On the next page, enter "Existing Code Location" to be the directory of your IDF project. Don't specify the path to the ESP-IDF directory itself (that comes later). The directory you specify should contain a file named "Makefile" (the project Makefile).
+
+* On the same page, under "Toolchain for Indexer Settings" uncheck "Show only available toolchains that support this platform".
+
+* On the extended list that appears, choose "Cygwin GCC". Then click Finish.
+
+*Note: you may see warnings in the UI that Cygwin GCC Toolchain could not be found. This is OK, we're going to reconfigure Eclipse to find our toolchain.*
+
+Project Properties
+------------------
+
+* The new project will appear under Project Explorer. Right-click the project and choose Properties from the context menu.
+
+* Click on the "C/C++ Build" properties page (top-level):
+
+  * Uncheck "Use default build command" and enter this for the custom build command: ``python ${IDF_PATH}/tools/windows/eclipse_make.py``.
+
+* Click on the "Environment" properties page under "C/C++ Build":
+
+  * Click "Add..." and enter name ``BATCH_BUILD`` and value ``1``.
+
+  * Click "Add..." again, and enter name ``IDF_PATH``. The value should be the full path where ESP-IDF is installed. The IDF_PATH directory should be specified using forwards slashes not backslashes, ie *C:/Users/MyUser/Development/esp-idf*.
+
+  * Edit the PATH environment variable. Delete the existing value and replace it with ``C:\msys32\usr\bin;C:\msys32\mingw32\bin;C:\msys32\opt\xtensa-esp32-elf\bin`` (If you installed msys32 to a different directory then you'll need to change these paths to match).
+
+* Click on "C/C++ General" -> "Preprocessor Include Paths, Macros,etc." property page:
+
+  * Click the "Providers" tab
+
+     * In the list of providers, click "CDT GCC Built-in Compiler Settings Cygwin". Under "Command to get compiler specs", replace the text ``${COMMAND}`` at the beginning of the line with ``xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc``. This means the full "Command to get compiler specs" should be ``xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc ${FLAGS} -E -P -v -dD "${INPUTS}"``.
+
+     * In the list of providers, click "CDT GCC Build Output Parser" and type ``xtensa-esp32-elf-`` at the beginning of the Compiler command pattern. This means the full Compiler command pattern should be ``xtensa-esp32-elf-(g?cc)|([gc]\+\+)|(clang)``
+
+
+Building in Eclipse
+-------------------
+
+Continue from :ref:`Building in Eclipse <eclipse-build-project>` for all platforms.
+
+Technical Details
+=================
+
+**Of interest to Windows gurus or very curious parties, only.**
+
+Explanations of the technical reasons for some of these steps. You don't need to know this in order to use esp-idf with Eclipse on Windows, but it may be helpful background knowledge if you plan to do dig into the Eclipse support:
+
+* The xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc cross-compiler is *not* a Cygwin toolchain, even though we tell Eclipse that it is one. This is because msys2 uses Cygwin and supports Cygwin paths (of the type ``/c/blah`` instead of ``c:/blah`` or ``c:\\blah``). In particular, xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc reports to the Eclipse "built-in compiler settings" function that its built-in include directories are all under ``/usr/``, which is a Unix/Cygwin-style path that Eclipse otherwise can't resolve. By telling Eclipse the compiler is Cygwin, it resolves these paths internally using the ``cygpath`` utility.
+
+* The same problem occurs when parsing make output from esp-idf. Eclipse parses this output to find header directories, but it can't resolve include directories of the form ``/c/blah`` without using ``cygpath``. There is a heuristic that Eclipse Build Output Parser uses to determine whether it should call ``cygpath``, but for currently unknown reasons the esp-idf configuration doesn't trigger it. For this reason the ``eclipse_make.py`` wrapper script is used to call ``make`` and then use ``cygpath`` to process the output for Eclipse.
diff --git a/docs/eclipse-setup.rst b/docs/eclipse-setup.rst
index fbad93be6c..140e81e173 100644
--- a/docs/eclipse-setup.rst
+++ b/docs/eclipse-setup.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Build and Flash with Eclipse IDE
 ********************************
 
+.. _eclipse-install-steps:
+
 Installing Eclipse IDE
 ======================
 
@@ -8,10 +10,17 @@ The Eclipse IDE gives you a graphical integrated development environment for wri
 
 * Start by installing the esp-idf for your platform (see files in this directory with steps for Windows, OS X, Linux).
 
+* We suggest building a project from the command line first, to get a feel for how that process works. You also need to use the command line to configure your esp-idf project (via ``make menuconfig``), this is not currently supported inside Eclipse.
+
 * Download the Eclipse Installer for your platform from eclipse.org_.
 
 * When running the Eclipse Installer, choose "Eclipse for C/C++ Development" (in other places you'll see this referred to as CDT.)
 
+Windows Users
+=============
+
+Using ESP-IDF with Eclipse on Windows requires different configuration steps. :ref:`See the Eclipse IDE on Windows guide <eclipse-windows-setup>`.
+
 Setting up Eclipse
 ==================
 
@@ -20,13 +29,13 @@ Once your new Eclipse installation launches, follow these steps:
 Import New Project
 ------------------
 
-* Eclipse makes use of the Makefile support in ESP-IDF. This means you need to start by creating an ESP-IDF project. You can use the skeleton project from github.
+* Eclipse makes use of the Makefile support in ESP-IDF. This means you need to start by creating an ESP-IDF project. You can use the idf-template project from github, or open one of the examples in the esp-idf examples subdirectory.
 
 * Once Eclipse is running, choose File -> Import...
 
 * In the dialog that pops up, choose "C/C++" -> "Existing Code as Makefile Project" and click Next.
 
-* On the next page, enter "Existing Code Location" to be the directory of your IDF project. Don't specify the path to the ESP-IDF directory itself.
+* On the next page, enter "Existing Code Location" to be the directory of your IDF project. Don't specify the path to the ESP-IDF directory itself (that comes later). The directory you specify should contain a file named "Makefile" (the project Makefile).
 
 * On the same page, under "Toolchain for Indexer Settings" choose "Cross GCC". Then click Finish.
 
@@ -36,15 +45,9 @@ Project Properties
 
 * The new project will appear under Project Explorer. Right-click the project and choose Properties from the context menu.
 
-* Click on the "Environment" properties page under "C/C++ Build". Click "Add..." and enter name ``V`` and value ``1``.
+* Click on the "Environment" properties page under "C/C++ Build". Click "Add..." and enter name ``BATCH_BUILD`` and value ``1``.
 
-* Click "Add..." again, and enter name ``IDF_PATH``. The value should be the full path where ESP-IDF is installed. *Windows users: Use forward-slashes not backslashes for this path, ie C:/Users/MyUser/Development/esp-idf*.
-
-*Windows users only, follow these two additional steps:*
-
-* On the same Environment property page, edit the PATH environment variable. Delete the existing value and replace it with ``C:\msys32\usr\bin;C:\msys32\mingw32\bin;C:\msys32\opt\xtensa-esp32-elf\bin`` (If you installed msys32 to a different directory then you'll need to change these paths to match).
-
-* Click on the "C/C++ Build" top-level properties page then uncheck "Use default build command" and enter this for the custom build command: ``bash ${IDF_PATH}/tools/windows/eclipse_make.sh``.
+* Click "Add..." again, and enter name ``IDF_PATH``. The value should be the full path where ESP-IDF is installed.
 
 *All users, continue with these steps:*
 
@@ -56,7 +59,22 @@ Navigate to "C/C++ General" -> "Preprocessor Include Paths" property page:
 
 * In the list of providers, click "CDT GCC Build Output Parser" and type ``xtensa-esp32-elf-`` at the beginning of the Compiler command pattern. This means the full Compiler command pattern should be ``xtensa-esp32-elf-(g?cc)|([gc]\+\+)|(clang)``
 
-* Click OK to close the Properties dialog, and choose Project -> Build to build your project.
+.. _eclipse-build-project:
+
+Building in Eclipse
+-------------------
+
+Before your project is first built, Eclipse may show a lot of errors and warnings about undefined values. This is because some source files are automatically generated as part of the esp-idf build process. These errors and warnings will go away after you build the project.
+
+* Click OK to close the Properties dialog in Eclipse.
+
+* Outside Eclipse, open a command line prompt. Navigate to your project directory, and run ``make menuconfig`` to configure your project's esp-idf settings. This step currently has to be run outside Eclipse.
+
+*If you try to build without running a configuration step first, esp-idf will prompt for configuration on the command line - but Eclipse is not able to deal with this, so the build will hang or fail.*
+
+* Back in Eclipse, choose Project -> Build to build your project.
+
+**TIP**: If your project had already been built outside Eclipse, you may need to do a Project -> Clean before chosing Project -> Build. This is so Eclipse can see the compiler arguments for all source files. It uses these to determine the header include paths.
 
 Flash from Eclipse
 ------------------
@@ -77,7 +95,3 @@ Follow the same steps to add ``bootloader`` and ``partition_table`` targets, if
 
 .. _eclipse.org: http://www.eclipse.org/
 
-Eclipse Troubleshooting
------------------------
-
-* ``*** Make was invoked from ... However please do not run make from the sdk or a component directory; ...`` - Eclipse will detect any directory with a Makefile in it as being a possible directory to run "make" in. All component directories also contain a Makefile (the wrong one), so it is important when using Project -> Make Target to always select the top-level project directory in Project Explorer.
diff --git a/make/build_examples.sh b/make/build_examples.sh
index e85ec26a70..ee429309e1 100755
--- a/make/build_examples.sh
+++ b/make/build_examples.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 #
 [ -z ${IDF_PATH} ] && echo "IDF_PATH is not set" && exit 1
 
+export BATCH_BUILD=1
+export V=0 # only build verbose if there's an error
+
 EXAMPLE_NUM=1
 RESULT=0
 FAILED_EXAMPLES=""
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ for category in ${IDF_PATH}/examples/*; do
             set -e
             make clean defconfig
             make $* all 2>&1 | tee $BUILDLOG
-        ) || { RESULT=$?; FAILED_EXAMPLES+=" ${example}"; make V=1; } # only build verbose if there's an error
+        ) || { RESULT=$?; FAILED_EXAMPLES+=" ${example}"; make V=1; } # verbose output for errors
         popd
         EXAMPLE_NUM=$(( $EXAMPLE_NUM + 1 ))
 
diff --git a/make/common.mk b/make/common.mk
index 605b8ab862..41a87b3a64 100644
--- a/make/common.mk
+++ b/make/common.mk
@@ -7,9 +7,14 @@
 # (Note that we only rebuild this makefile automatically for some
 # targets, see project_config.mk for details.)
 SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE ?= $(abspath $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/config/auto.conf)
--include $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE)
+include $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE)
 export SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE  # sub-makes (like bootloader) will reuse this path
 
+# BATCH_BUILD flag disables interactive terminal features, defaults to verbose build
+ifdef BATCH_BUILD
+V ?= 1
+endif
+
 #Handling of V=1/VERBOSE=1 flag
 #
 # if V=1, $(summary) does nothing and $(details) will echo extra details
diff --git a/make/project.mk b/make/project.mk
index bebb1fc7d4..04015a8a8c 100644
--- a/make/project.mk
+++ b/make/project.mk
@@ -49,14 +49,23 @@ endif
 # make IDF_PATH a "real" absolute path
 # * works around the case where a shell character is embedded in the environment variable value.
 # * changes Windows-style C:/blah/ paths to MSYS/Cygwin style /c/blah
-export IDF_PATH:=$(realpath $(wildcard $(IDF_PATH)))
+ifeq ("$(OS)","Windows_NT")
+# On Windows MSYS2, make wildcard function returns empty string for paths of form /xyz
+# where /xyz is a directory inside the MSYS root - so we don't use it.
+SANITISED_IDF_PATH:=$(realpath $(IDF_PATH))
+else
+SANITISED_IDF_PATH:=$(realpath $(wildcard $(IDF_PATH)))
+endif
+
+export IDF_PATH := $(SANITISED_IDF_PATH)
 
 ifndef IDF_PATH
 $(error IDF_PATH variable is not set to a valid directory.)
 endif
 
-ifneq ("$(IDF_PATH)","$(realpath $(wildcard $(IDF_PATH)))")
-# due to the way make manages variables, this is hard to account for
+ifneq ("$(IDF_PATH)","$(SANITISED_IDF_PATH)")
+# implies IDF_PATH was overriden on make command line.
+# Due to the way make manages variables, this is hard to account for
 #
 # if you see this error, do the shell expansion in the shell ie
 # make IDF_PATH=~/blah not make IDF_PATH="~/blah"
@@ -370,12 +379,7 @@ $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/$(2)/lib$(2).a: $(2)-build
 # If any component_project_vars.mk file is out of date, the make
 # process will call this target to rebuild it and then restart.
 #
-# Note: $(SDKCONFIG) is a normal prereq as we need to rebuild these
-# files whenever the config changes. $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE) is an
-# order-only prereq because if it hasn't been rebuilt, we need to
-# build it first - but including it as a normal prereq can lead to
-# infinite restarts as the conf process will keep updating it.
-$(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/$(2)/component_project_vars.mk: $(1)/component.mk $(COMMON_MAKEFILES) $(SDKCONFIG) | $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/$(2) $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE)
+$(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/$(2)/component_project_vars.mk: $(1)/component.mk $(COMMON_MAKEFILES) $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE) | $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/$(2)
 	$(call ComponentMake,$(1),$(2)) component_project_vars.mk
 endef
 
diff --git a/make/project_config.mk b/make/project_config.mk
index 011aa1ff0e..c0369f95f8 100644
--- a/make/project_config.mk
+++ b/make/project_config.mk
@@ -20,59 +20,77 @@ $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/mconf $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf:
 	MAKEFLAGS=$(ORIGINAL_MAKEFLAGS) CC=$(HOSTCC) LD=$(HOSTLD) \
 	$(MAKE) -C $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)
 
-# use a wrapper environment for where we run Kconfig tools
-KCONFIG_TOOL_ENV=KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER=$(abspath $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h) \
-	COMPONENT_KCONFIGS="$(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS)" KCONFIG_CONFIG=$(SDKCONFIG) \
-	COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD="$(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD)"
-
-menuconfig: $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/mconf $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig $(call prereq_if_explicit,defconfig)
-	$(summary) MENUCONFIG
-	$(KCONFIG_TOOL_ENV) $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/mconf $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig
-
 ifeq ("$(wildcard $(SDKCONFIG))","")
-ifeq ("$(call prereq_if_explicit,defconfig)","")
-# if not configuration is present and defconfig is not a target, run defconfig then menuconfig
-$(SDKCONFIG): defconfig menuconfig
+ifeq ("$(filter defconfig, $(MAKECMDGOALS))","")
+# if no configuration file is present and defconfig is not a named
+# target, run defconfig then menuconfig to get the initial config
+$(SDKCONFIG): menuconfig
+menuconfig: defconfig
 else
-# otherwise, just defconfig
+# otherwise, just run defconfig
 $(SDKCONFIG): defconfig
 endif
 endif
 
+# macro for the commands to run kconfig tools conf or mconf.
+# $1 is the name (& args) of the conf tool to run
+define RunConf
+	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/config
+	cd $(BUILD_DIR_BASE); KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER=$(abspath $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h) \
+	COMPONENT_KCONFIGS="$(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS)" KCONFIG_CONFIG=$(SDKCONFIG) \
+	COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD="$(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD)" \
+	$(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/$1 $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig
+endef
+
+ifeq ("$(MAKE_RESTARTS)","")
+# menuconfig, defconfig and "GENCONFIG" configuration generation only
+# ever run on the first make pass, subsequent passes don't run these
+# (make often wants to re-run them as the conf tool can regenerate the
+# sdkconfig input file as an output file, but this is not what the
+# user wants - a single config pass is enough to produce all output
+# files.)
+#
+# To prevent problems missing genconfig, ensure none of these targets
+# depend on any prerequisite that may cause a make restart as part of
+# the prerequisite's own recipe.
+
+menuconfig: $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/mconf
+	$(summary) MENUCONFIG
+ifdef BATCH_BUILD
+	@echo "Can't run interactive configuration inside non-interactive build process."
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "Open a command line terminal and run 'make menuconfig' from there."
+	@echo "See esp-idf documentation for more details."
+	@exit 1
+else
+	$(call RunConf,mconf)
+endif
+
 # defconfig creates a default config, based on SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS if present
-defconfig: $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/mconf $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)
+defconfig: $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf
 	$(summary) DEFCONFIG
 ifneq ("$(wildcard $(SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS))","")
 	cat $(SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS) >> $(SDKCONFIG)  # append defaults to sdkconfig, will override existing values
 endif
-	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/config
-	$(KCONFIG_TOOL_ENV) $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf --olddefconfig $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig
+	$(call RunConf,conf --olddefconfig)
 
-# Work out of whether we have to build the Kconfig makefile
-# (auto.conf), or if we're in a situation where we don't need it
-NON_CONFIG_TARGETS := clean %-clean help menuconfig defconfig
-AUTO_CONF_REGEN_TARGET := $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE)
-
-# disable AUTO_CONF_REGEN_TARGET if all targets are non-config targets
-# (and not building default target)
-ifneq ("$(MAKECMDGOALS)","")
-ifeq ($(filter $(NON_CONFIG_TARGETS), $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
-AUTO_CONF_REGEN_TARGET :=
-# dummy target
-$(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE):
-endif
-endif
-
-$(AUTO_CONF_REGEN_TARGET) $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h: $(SDKCONFIG) $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf $(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS) $(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD)
+# if neither defconfig or menuconfig are requested, use the GENCONFIG rule to
+# ensure generated config files are up to date
+$(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE) $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h: $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf $(SDKCONFIG) $(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS) $(COMPONENT_KCONFIGS_PROJBUILD) | $(call prereq_if_explicit,defconfig) $(call prereq_if_explicit,menuconfig)
 	$(summary) GENCONFIG
-	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/config
-	cd $(BUILD_DIR_BASE); $(KCONFIG_TOOL_ENV) $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR)/conf --silentoldconfig $(IDF_PATH)/Kconfig
-	touch $(AUTO_CONF_REGEN_TARGET) $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h
-# touch to ensure both output files are newer - as 'conf' can also update sdkconfig (a dependency). Without this,
-# sometimes you can get an infinite make loop on Windows where sdkconfig always gets regenerated newer
-# than the target(!)
+ifdef BATCH_BUILD  # can't prompt for new config values like on terminal
+	$(call RunConf,conf --olddefconfig)
+endif
+	$(call RunConf,conf --silentoldconfig)
+	touch $(SDKCONFIG_MAKEFILE) $(BUILD_DIR_BASE)/include/sdkconfig.h  # ensure newer than sdkconfig
 
-.PHONY: config-clean
+else  # "$(MAKE_RESTARTS)" != ""
+# on subsequent make passes, skip config generation entirely
+defconfig:
+menuconfig:
+endif
+
+.PHONY: config-clean defconfig menuconfig
 config-clean:
 	$(summary RM CONFIG)
 	$(MAKE) -C $(KCONFIG_TOOL_DIR) clean
diff --git a/tools/kconfig/.gitignore b/tools/kconfig/.gitignore
index be603c4fef..977c274ce3 100644
--- a/tools/kconfig/.gitignore
+++ b/tools/kconfig/.gitignore
@@ -20,3 +20,11 @@ nconf
 qconf
 gconf
 kxgettext
+
+# configuration programs, Windows
+conf.exe
+mconf.exe
+nconf.exe
+qconf.exe
+gconf.exe
+kxgettext.exe
diff --git a/tools/windows/eclipse_make.py b/tools/windows/eclipse_make.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e65cfc9cc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/windows/eclipse_make.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# Wrapper to run make and preprocess any paths in the output from MSYS/Cygwin paths
+# to Windows paths, for Eclipse
+from __future__ import print_function, division
+import sys, subprocess, os.path, re
+
+UNIX_PATH_RE = re.compile(r'(/[^ \'"]+)+')
+
+paths = {}
+def check_path(path):
+    try:
+        return paths[path]
+    except KeyError:
+        pass
+    paths[path] = path  # cache as failed, replace with success if it works
+    try:
+        winpath = subprocess.check_output(["cygpath", "-w", path]).strip()
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+        return path  # something went wrong running cygpath, assume this is not a path!
+    if not os.path.exists(winpath):
+        return path  # not actually a valid path
+    winpath = winpath.replace("\\", "/")  # make consistent with forward-slashes used elsewhere
+    paths[path] = winpath
+    return winpath
+
+def main():
+    print("Running make in '%s'" % check_path(os.getcwd()))
+    make = subprocess.Popen(["make"] + sys.argv[1:] + ["BATCH_BUILD=1"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    for line in iter(make.stdout.readline, ''):
+         line = re.sub(UNIX_PATH_RE, lambda m: check_path(m.group(0)), line)
+         print(line.rstrip())
+    sys.exit(make.wait())
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/tools/windows/eclipse_make.sh b/tools/windows/eclipse_make.sh
index 200d798ffa..769bca2695 100755
--- a/tools/windows/eclipse_make.sh
+++ b/tools/windows/eclipse_make.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# A wrapper for make on Windows with Eclipse
-#
-# Eclipse's output parser expects to see output of the form C:/dir/dir/file but our Make
-# process uses MinGW paths of the form /c/dir/dir/file. So parse these out...
-#
-# (regexp deliberate only matches after a space character to try and avoid false-positives.)
-echo "Running make in $(pwd)"
-make $@ V=1 | sed -E "s@ /([a-z])/(.+)/@ \1:/\2/@g" | sed -E "s@-I/([a-z])/(.+)/@-I\1:/\2/@g" | sed -E "s@-L/([a-z])/(.+)/@-L\1:/\2/@g"
+echo "eclipse_make.sh has been replaced with eclipse_make.py. Check the Windows Eclipse docs for the new command."
+echo "This shell script will continue to work until the next major release."
+python ${IDF_PATH}/tools/windows/eclipse_make.py $@