diff --git a/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake b/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake
index b19f4c8aa..dc614e630 100644
--- a/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake
+++ b/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake
@@ -70,26 +70,7 @@ endfunction()
 # @public
 #
 function(catkin_pack_libraries_with_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(result "")
-  set(_argn ${ARGN})
-  list(LENGTH _argn _count)
-  set(_index 0)
-  while(${_index} LESS ${_count})
-    list(GET _argn ${_index} lib)
-    if("${lib}" MATCHES "^(debug|optimized|general)$")
-      math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-      if(${_index} EQUAL ${_count})
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "catkin_pack_libraries_with_build_configuration() the list of libraries '${_argn}' ends with '${lib}' which is a build configuration keyword and must be followed by a library")
-      endif()
-      list(GET _argn ${_index} library)
-      list(APPEND result "${lib}${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}${library}")
-    else()
-      list(APPEND result "${lib}")
-    endif()
-    math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-  endwhile()
-  #debug_message(10 "catkin_pack_libraries_with_build_configuration(${VAR} ${_argn}) ${result}")
-  set(${VAR} "${result}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(^|;)(debug|optimized|general);([^;]+)(;|$)" "\\1\\2${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}\\3\\4" ${VAR} "${ARGN}")
 endfunction()
 
 #
@@ -104,14 +85,7 @@ endfunction()
 # @public
 #
 function(catkin_unpack_libraries_with_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(result "")
-  foreach(lib ${ARGN})
-    string(REGEX REPLACE "^(debug|optimized|general)${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}(.+)$" "\\1;\\2" lib "${lib}")
-    list(APPEND result "${lib}")
-  endforeach()
-  #set(_argn ${ARGN})
-  #debug_message(10 "catkin_unpack_libraries_with_build_configuration(${VAR} ${_argn}) ${result}")
-  set(${VAR} "${result}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(debug|optimized|general)${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}([^;]+)" "\\1;\\2" ${VAR} "${ARGN}")
 endfunction()
 
 #
diff --git a/cmake/list_append_deduplicate.cmake b/cmake/list_append_deduplicate.cmake
index e59a61bb1..5c56099c3 100644
--- a/cmake/list_append_deduplicate.cmake
+++ b/cmake/list_append_deduplicate.cmake
@@ -1,11 +1,6 @@
 #
 # Append elements to a list and remove existing duplicates from the list.
 #
-# .. note:: Using CMake's ``list(APPEND ..)`` and
-#   ``list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES ..)`` is not sufficient since its
-#   implementation uses a set internally which makes the operation
-#   unstable.
-#
 macro(list_append_deduplicate listname)
   if(NOT "${ARGN}" STREQUAL "")
     if(${listname})
diff --git a/cmake/list_append_unique.cmake b/cmake/list_append_unique.cmake
index 4c9bb1df8..a6163cd62 100644
--- a/cmake/list_append_unique.cmake
+++ b/cmake/list_append_unique.cmake
@@ -1,16 +1,9 @@
 #
 # Append elements to a list if they are not already in the list.
 #
-# .. note:: Using CMake's ``list(APPEND ..)`` and
-#   ``list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES ..)`` is not sufficient since its
-#   implementation uses a set internally which makes the operation
-#   unstable.
-#
 macro(list_append_unique listname)
-  foreach(_item ${ARGN})
-    list(FIND ${listname} ${_item} _index)
-    if(_index EQUAL -1)
-      list(APPEND ${listname} ${_item})
-    endif()
-  endforeach()
+  if(NOT "${ARGN}" STREQUAL "")
+    list(APPEND ${listname} ${ARGN})
+    list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES ${listname})
+  endif()
 endmacro()
diff --git a/cmake/templates/pkgConfig.cmake.in b/cmake/templates/pkgConfig.cmake.in
index 8740d9944..e2f7d0ed7 100644
--- a/cmake/templates/pkgConfig.cmake.in
+++ b/cmake/templates/pkgConfig.cmake.in
@@ -16,47 +16,24 @@ endmacro()
 # copied from catkin/cmake/list_append_unique.cmake to keep pkgConfig
 # self contained
 macro(_list_append_unique listname)
-  foreach(_item ${ARGN})
-    list(FIND ${listname} ${_item} _index)
-    if(_index EQUAL -1)
-      list(APPEND ${listname} ${_item})
-    endif()
-  endforeach()
+  if(NOT "${ARGN}" STREQUAL "")
+    list(APPEND ${listname} ${ARGN})
+    list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES ${listname})
+  endif()
 endmacro()
 
 # pack a list of libraries with optional build configuration keywords
 # copied from catkin/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake to keep pkgConfig
 # self contained
 macro(_pack_libraries_with_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(${VAR} "")
-  set(_argn ${ARGN})
-  list(LENGTH _argn _count)
-  set(_index 0)
-  while(${_index} LESS ${_count})
-    list(GET _argn ${_index} lib)
-    if("${lib}" MATCHES "^(debug|optimized|general)$")
-      math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-      if(${_index} EQUAL ${_count})
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "_pack_libraries_with_build_configuration() the list of libraries '${ARGN}' ends with '${lib}' which is a build configuration keyword and must be followed by a library")
-      endif()
-      list(GET _argn ${_index} library)
-      list(APPEND ${VAR} "${lib}${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}${library}")
-    else()
-      list(APPEND ${VAR} "${lib}")
-    endif()
-    math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-  endwhile()
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(^|;)(debug|optimized|general);([^;]+)(;|$)" "\\1\\2${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}\\3\\4" ${VAR} "${ARGN}")
 endmacro()
 
 # unpack a list of libraries with optional build configuration keyword prefixes
 # copied from catkin/cmake/catkin_libraries.cmake to keep pkgConfig
 # self contained
 macro(_unpack_libraries_with_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(${VAR} "")
-  foreach(lib ${ARGN})
-    string(REGEX REPLACE "^(debug|optimized|general)${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}(.+)$" "\\1;\\2" lib "${lib}")
-    list(APPEND ${VAR} "${lib}")
-  endforeach()
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(debug|optimized|general)${CATKIN_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}([^;]+)" "\\1;\\2" ${VAR} "${ARGN}")
 endmacro()