diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
index c874c88..10ec798 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/buildsettings.d
@@ -290,6 +290,9 @@
 	deprecationErrors = 1<<19,    /// Stop compilation upon usage of deprecated features (-de)
 	property = 1<<20,             /// DEPRECATED: Enforce property syntax (-property)
 	profileGC = 1<<21,            /// Profile runtime allocations
+	// for internal usage
+	_docs = 1<<22,                // Write ddoc to docs
+	_ddox = 1<<23,                // Compile docs.json
 }
 
 	struct BuildOptions {
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d b/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
index 53d7626..73d3994 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/dmd.d
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@
 		tuple(BuildOption.deprecationErrors, ["-de"]),
 		tuple(BuildOption.property, ["-property"]),
 		tuple(BuildOption.profileGC, ["-profile=gc"]),
+
+		tuple(BuildOption._docs, ["-Dddocs"]),
+		tuple(BuildOption._ddox, ["-Xfdocs.json", "-Df__dummy.html"]),
 	];
 
 	@property string name() const { return "dmd"; }
@@ -218,7 +221,7 @@
 	{
 		return  lflags.map!(f => "-L"~f)().array();
 	}
-	
+
 	private auto escapeArgs(in string[] args)
 	{
 		return args.map!(s => s.canFind(' ') ? "\""~s~"\"" : s);
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d b/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
index 1eac982..3c58cf1 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/gdc.d
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@
 		tuple(BuildOption.deprecationErrors, ["-Werror", "-Wdeprecated"]),
 		tuple(BuildOption.property, ["-fproperty"]),
 		//tuple(BuildOption.profileGC, ["-?"]),
+
+		tuple(BuildOption._docs, ["-fdoc-dir=docs"]),
+		tuple(BuildOption._ddox, ["-fXf=docs.json", "-fdoc-file=__dummy.html"]),
 	];
 
 	@property string name() const { return "gdc"; }
diff --git a/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d b/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
index 2f3af97..7cd75d8 100644
--- a/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
+++ b/source/dub/compilers/ldc.d
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@
 		tuple(BuildOption.deprecationErrors, ["-de"]),
 		tuple(BuildOption.property, ["-property"]),
 		//tuple(BuildOption.profileGC, ["-?"]),
+
+		tuple(BuildOption._docs, ["-Dd=docs"]),
+		tuple(BuildOption._ddox, ["-Xf=docs.json", "-Dd=__dummy_docs"]),
 	];
 
 	@property string name() const { return "ldc"; }
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/build.d b/source/dub/generators/build.d
index 9ddb93f..8db2c32 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/build.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/build.d
@@ -124,6 +124,15 @@
 		else if (settings.direct || !generate_binary) performDirectBuild(settings, buildsettings, pack, config);
 		else cached = performCachedBuild(settings, buildsettings, pack, config, build_id, packages, additional_dep_files);
 
+		// HACK: cleanup dummy doc files, we shouldn't specialize on buildType
+		// here and the compiler shouldn't need dummy doc ouput.
+		if (settings.buildType == "ddox") {
+			if ("__dummy.html".exists)
+				removeFile("__dummy.html");
+			if ("__dummy_docs".exists)
+				rmdirRecurse("__dummy_docs");
+		}
+
 		// run post-build commands
 		if (!cached && buildsettings.postBuildCommands.length) {
 			logInfo("Running post-build commands...");
diff --git a/source/dub/package_.d b/source/dub/package_.d
index 0c1fb7c..de5adb5 100644
--- a/source/dub/package_.d
+++ b/source/dub/package_.d
@@ -299,8 +299,8 @@
 				case "release": settings.addOptions(releaseMode, optimize, inline); break;
 				case "release-nobounds": settings.addOptions(releaseMode, optimize, inline, noBoundsCheck); break;
 				case "unittest": settings.addOptions(unittests, debugMode, debugInfo); break;
-				case "docs": settings.addOptions(syntaxOnly); settings.addDFlags("-c", "-Dddocs"); break;
-				case "ddox": settings.addOptions(syntaxOnly); settings.addDFlags("-c", "-Df__dummy.html", "-Xfdocs.json"); break;
+				case "docs": settings.addOptions(syntaxOnly, _docs); break;
+				case "ddox": settings.addOptions(syntaxOnly,  _ddox); break;
 				case "profile": settings.addOptions(profile, optimize, inline, debugInfo); break;
 				case "profile-gc": settings.addOptions(profileGC, debugInfo); break;
 				case "cov": settings.addOptions(coverage, debugInfo); break;
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@
 
 	return null;
 }
- 
+
 bool isRecursiveInvocation(string pack)
 {
 	import std.process : environment;