diff --git a/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.bat b/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.bat
index dc76c7e0484..024706989e9 100755
--- a/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.bat
+++ b/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.bat
@@ -1,66 +1,7 @@
 @echo off
-REM Adjust path for your docbook installation in buildenv.pl
 
 REM src/tools/msvc/builddoc.bat
-
-SETLOCAL
-SET STARTDIR=%CD%
-SET OPENJADE=openjade-1.3.1
-SET DSSSL=docbook-dsssl-1.79
-
-IF EXIST ..\msvc IF EXIST ..\..\..\src cd ..\..\..
-IF NOT EXIST doc\src\sgml\version.sgml goto noversion
-
-IF NOT EXIST src\tools\msvc\buildenv.pl goto nobuildenv
-perl -e "require 'src/tools/msvc/buildenv.pl'; while(($k,$v) = each %ENV) { print qq[\@SET $k=$v\n]; }" > bldenv.bat
-CALL bldenv.bat
-del bldenv.bat
-:nobuildenv 
-
-IF NOT EXIST %DOCROOT%\%OPENJADE% SET NF=OpenJade
-IF NOT EXIST %DOCROOT%\docbook SET NF=docbook
-IF NOT EXIST %DOCROOT%\%DSSSL% set NF=docbook-dssl
-
-IF NOT "%NF%" == "" GOTO notfound
-
-IF "%1" == "renamefiles" GOTO renamefiles
-
-cmd /v /c src\tools\msvc\builddoc renamefiles
-cd doc\src\sgml
-
-SET SGML_CATALOG_FILES=%DOCROOT%\%OPENJADE%\dsssl\catalog;%DOCROOT%\docbook\docbook.cat
-perl %DOCROOT%\%DSSSL%\bin\collateindex.pl -f -g -o bookindex.sgml -N
-perl mk_feature_tables.pl YES ..\..\..\src\backend\catalog\sql_feature_packages.txt ..\..\..\src\backend\catalog\sql_features.txt > features-supported.sgml
-perl mk_feature_tables.pl NO ..\..\..\src\backend\catalog\sql_feature_packages.txt ..\..\..\src\backend\catalog\sql_features.txt > features-unsupported.sgml
-perl make-errcodes-table.pl ..\..\..\src\backend\utils\errcodes.txt > errcodes-table.sgml
-
-echo Running first build...
-%DOCROOT%\%OPENJADE%\bin\openjade -V draft-mode -wall -wno-unused-param -wno-empty -D . -c %DOCROOT%\%DSSSL%\catalog -d stylesheet.dsl -i output-html -t sgml postgres.sgml 2>&1 | findstr /V "DTDDECL catalog entries are not supported"
-echo Running collateindex...
-perl %DOCROOT%\%DSSSL%\bin\collateindex.pl -f -g -i bookindex -o bookindex.sgml HTML.index
-echo Running second build...
-%DOCROOT%\%OPENJADE%\bin\openjade -V draft-mode -wall -wno-unused-param -wno-empty -D . -c %DOCROOT%\%DSSSL%\catalog -d stylesheet.dsl -i output-html -t sgml postgres.sgml 2>&1 | findstr /V "DTDDECL catalog entries are not supported"
-
-cd %STARTDIR%
-echo Docs build complete.
-exit /b
-
-
-:renamefiles
-REM Rename ISO entity files
-CD %DOCROOT%\docbook
-FOR %%f in (ISO*) do (
-   set foo=%%f
-   IF NOT "!foo:~-4!" == ".gml" ren !foo! !foo:~0,3!-!foo:~3!.gml
-)
-exit /b
-
-:notfound
-echo Could not find directory for %NF%.
-cd %STARTDIR%
-goto :eof
-
-:noversion
-echo Could not find version.sgml. Please run mkvcbuild.pl first!
-cd %STARTDIR%
-goto :eof
+REM all the logic for this now belongs in builddoc.pl. This file really
+REM only exists so you don't have to type "perl builddoc.pl"
+REM Resist any temptation to add any logic here.
+@perl builddoc.pl %*
diff --git a/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.pl b/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.pl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..deaf659e774
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tools/msvc/builddoc.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# -*-perl-*- hey - emacs - this is a perl file
+
+# Adjust path for your docbook installation in buildenv.pl
+
+# src/tools/msvc/builddoc.pl
+# translated from an earlier .bat file
+
+use strict;
+use File::Copy;
+use Cwd qw(abs_path getcwd);
+
+
+my $startdir =  getcwd();
+
+my $openjade = 'openjade-1.3.1';
+my $dsssl = 'docbook-dsssl-1.79';
+
+chdir '../../..' if (-d '../msvc' && -d '../../../src');
+
+noversion() unless -e 'doc/src/sgml/version.sgml';
+
+require 'src/tools/msvc/buildenv.pl' if -e 'src/tools/msvc/buildenv.pl';
+
+my $docroot = $ENV{DOCROOT};
+die "bad DOCROOT '$docroot'" unless ($docroot && -d $docroot);
+
+my @notfound;
+foreach my $dir ('docbook', $openjade, $dsssl)
+{
+   push(@notfound,$dir) unless -d "$docroot/$dir";
+}
+missing() if @notfound;
+
+my $arg = shift;
+renamefiles();
+
+
+chdir 'doc/src/sgml';
+
+$ENV{SGML_CATALOG_FILES} = "$docroot/$openjade/dsssl/catalog;" . 
+				"$docroot/docbook/docbook.cat";
+
+my $cmd;
+
+# openjade exits below with a harmless non-zero status, so we
+# can't die on "failure"
+
+$cmd =
+"perl mk_feature_tables.pl YES " .
+	"../../../src/backend/catalog/sql_feature_packages.txt " .
+	"../../../src/backend/catalog/sql_features.txt " .
+	"> features-supported.sgml";
+system($cmd); die "features_supported" if $?;
+$cmd =
+"perl mk_feature_tables.pl NO " .
+	"\"../../../src/backend/catalog/sql_feature_packages.txt\" " .
+	"\"../../../src/backend/catalog/sql_features.txt\" " .
+	"> features-unsupported.sgml";
+system($cmd); die "features_unsupported" if $?;
+$cmd =
+"perl generate-errcodes-table.pl \"../../../src/backend/utils/errcodes.txt\" " .
+	"> errcodes-table.sgml";
+system($cmd); die "errcodes-table" if $?;
+
+print "Running first build...\n";
+$cmd =
+"\"$docroot/$openjade/bin/openjade\" -V html-index -wall " .
+	"-wno-unused-param -wno-empty -D . -c \"$docroot/$dsssl/catalog\" " .
+	"-d stylesheet.dsl -i output-html -t sgml postgres.sgml 2>&1 " .
+	"| findstr /V \"DTDDECL catalog entries are not supported\" ";
+system($cmd); # die "openjade" if $?;
+print "Running collateindex...\n";
+$cmd =
+"perl \"$docroot/$dsssl/bin/collateindex.pl\" -f -g -i bookindex " .
+	"-o bookindex.sgml HTML.index";
+system($cmd); die "collateindex" if $?;
+mkdir "html";
+print "Running second build...\n";
+$cmd =
+"\"$docroot/$openjade/bin/openjade\" -wall -wno-unused-param -wno-empty " .
+	"-D . -c \"$docroot/$dsssl/catalog\" -d stylesheet.dsl -t sgml " .
+	"-i output-html -i include-index postgres.sgml 2>&1 " .
+	"| findstr /V \"DTDDECL catalog entries are not supported\" ";
+
+system($cmd); # die "openjade" if $?;
+
+copy "stylesheet.css", "html/stylesheet.css";
+
+print "Docs build complete.\n";
+
+exit;
+
+########################################################
+
+sub renamefiles
+{
+	# Rename ISO entity files
+	my $savedir = getcwd();
+	chdir "$docroot/docbook";
+	foreach my $f (glob('ISO*'))
+	{
+		next if $f =~ /\.gml$/i;	
+		my $nf = $f;
+		$nf =~ s/ISO(.*)/ISO-$1.gml/;
+		move $f, $nf;
+	}
+	chdir $savedir;
+		
+}
+
+sub missing
+{
+	print STDERR "could not find $docroot/$_\n" foreach (@notfound);
+	exit 1;
+}
+
+sub noversion
+{
+	print STDERR "Could not find version.sgml. ",
+		"Please run mkvcbuild.pl first!\n";
+	exit 1;
+}