diff --git a/modules/TDEMacros.cmake b/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
index 1c6aa0b..344937b 100644
--- a/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
+++ b/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
@@ -1746,6 +1746,13 @@ macro( tde_create_translated_desktop )
       endif( )
     endif( )
 
+    # if the translated desktop file is not installed, generate to the specified output name
+    if( "${_dest}" STREQUAL "-" )
+      set( _basename "${_out_name}" )
+      get_filename_component( _out_dir "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_out_name}" PATH )
+      file( MAKE_DIRECTORY "${_out_dir}" )
+    endif( )
+
     # are there any translations available?
     unset( _translations )
     if( EXISTS "${_po_dir}" AND IS_DIRECTORY "${_po_dir}" )
@@ -1815,11 +1822,13 @@ macro( tde_create_translated_desktop )
     endif( )
 
     # install traslated desktop file
-    install(
-      FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_basename}
-      RENAME ${_out_name}
-      DESTINATION ${_dest}
-    )
+    if( NOT "${_dest}" STREQUAL "-" )
+      install(
+        FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_basename}
+        RENAME ${_out_name}
+        DESTINATION ${_dest}
+      )
+    endif()
 
   endforeach()