diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index 117b390..042279e 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@
 abstract class PackageBuildCommand : Command {
 	protected {
 		string m_buildType;
+		BuildMode m_buildMode;
 		string m_buildConfig;
 		string m_compilerName = .determineCompiler();
 		string m_arch;
@@ -363,6 +364,10 @@
 		args.getopt("force-remove", &m_forceRemove, [
 			"Force deletion of fetched packages with untracked files when upgrading"
 		]);
+		args.getopt("build-mode", &m_buildMode, [
+			"Specifies the way the compiler and linker are invoked. Valid values:",
+			"  separate (default), allAtOnce"
+		]);
 	}
 
 	protected void setupPackage(Dub dub, string package_name)
@@ -522,6 +527,7 @@
 		gensettings.platform = m_buildPlatform;
 		gensettings.config = m_buildConfig.length ? m_buildConfig : m_defaultConfig;
 		gensettings.buildType = m_buildType;
+		gensettings.buildMode = m_buildMode;
 		gensettings.compiler = m_compiler;
 		gensettings.buildSettings = m_buildSettings;
 		gensettings.combined = m_combined;
@@ -627,6 +633,8 @@
 			`run the unit tests.`
 		];
 		this.acceptsAppArgs = true;
+
+		m_buildType = "unittest";
 	}
 
 	override void prepare(scope CommandArgs args)
@@ -654,7 +662,8 @@
 		GeneratorSettings settings;
 		settings.platform = m_buildPlatform;
 		settings.compiler = getCompiler(m_buildPlatform.compilerBinary);
-		settings.buildType = "unittest";
+		settings.buildType = m_buildType;
+		settings.buildMode = m_buildMode;
 		settings.buildSettings = m_buildSettings;
 		settings.combined = m_combined;
 		settings.force = m_force;
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/build.d b/source/dub/generators/build.d
index 06545d5..1d4bfbb 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/build.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/build.d
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@
 			      on the other compilers. Later this should be integrated somehow in the build process
 			      (either in the package.json, or using a command line flag)
 		*/
-		if (settings.platform.compilerBinary != "dmd" || !generate_binary || is_static_library) {
+		if (settings.buildMode == BuildMode.allAtOnce || settings.platform.compilerBinary != "dmd" || !generate_binary || is_static_library) {
 			// setup for command line
 			if (generate_binary) settings.compiler.setTarget(buildsettings, settings.platform);
 			settings.compiler.prepareBuildSettings(buildsettings, BuildSetting.commandLine);
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/generator.d b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
index 11968da..783bc13 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/generator.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
@@ -100,12 +100,11 @@
 			}
 		}
 		if (tt != TargetType.none && tt != TargetType.sourceLibrary && shallowbs.sourceFiles.empty) {
-			logWarn(`Package %s contains no source files. Please add {"targetType": "none"} to it's package description to avoid building it.`,
-				pack.name);
+			logWarn(`Configuration '%s' of package %s contains no source files. Please add {"targetType": "none"} to it's package description to avoid building it.`,
+				configs[pack.name], pack.name);
 			tt = TargetType.none;
 		}
 
-
 		shallowbs.targetType = tt;
 		bool generates_binary = tt != TargetType.sourceLibrary && tt != TargetType.none;
 
@@ -203,6 +202,7 @@
 	string config;
 	string buildType;
 	BuildSettings buildSettings;
+	BuildMode buildMode = BuildMode.separate;
 
 	bool combined; // compile all in one go instead of each dependency separately
 
@@ -216,6 +216,19 @@
 
 
 /**
+	Determines the mode in which the compiler and linker are invoked.
+*/
+enum BuildMode {
+	separate,                 /// Compile and link separately
+	allAtOnce,                /// Perform compile and link with a single compiler invocation
+	//singleFile,               /// Compile each file separately
+	//multipleObjects,          /// Generate an object file per module
+	//multipleObjectsPerModule, /// Use the -multiobj switch to generate multiple object files per module
+	//compileOnly               /// Do not invoke the linker (can be done using a post build command)
+}
+
+
+/**
 	Creates a project generator of the given type for the specified project.
 */
 ProjectGenerator createProjectGenerator(string generator_type, Project app, PackageManager mgr)
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/visuald.d b/source/dub/generators/visuald.d
index 75ac0a8..2afa06a 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/visuald.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/visuald.d
@@ -330,7 +330,14 @@
 				ret.put("    <link>0</link>\n");
 				ret.put("    <subsystem>0</subsystem>\n");
 				ret.put("    <multiobj>0</multiobj>\n");
-				ret.put("    <singleFileCompilation>2</singleFileCompilation>\n");
+				int singlefilemode;
+				final switch (settings.buildMode) with (BuildMode) {
+					case separate: singlefilemode = 2; break;
+					case allAtOnce: singlefilemode = 0; break;
+					//case singleFile: singlefilemode = 1; break;
+					//case compileOnly: singlefilemode = 3; break;
+				}
+				ret.formattedWrite("    <singleFileCompilation>%s</singleFileCompilation>\n");
 				ret.put("    <oneobj>0</oneobj>\n");
 				ret.put("    <trace>0</trace>\n");
 				ret.put("    <quiet>0</quiet>\n");