diff --git a/3rdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
index dee7c0c403..a10e20bfd8 100644
--- a/3rdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/3rdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 project(libprotobuf)
-
 include(CheckIncludeFiles)
 
 if(HAVE_PTHREAD)
@@ -136,8 +135,7 @@ append_if_exist(Protobuf_SRCS
 )
 
 add_library(libprotobuf STATIC ${Protobuf_SRCS})
-ocv_include_directories(${PROTOBUF_ROOT}/src)
-
+target_include_directories(libprotobuf SYSTEM PUBLIC $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PROTOBUF_ROOT}/src>)
 set_target_properties(libprotobuf
     PROPERTIES
     FOLDER "3rdparty"
@@ -146,6 +144,9 @@ set_target_properties(libprotobuf
     ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${3P_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_PATH}
     )
 
+get_protobuf_version(Protobuf_VERSION "${PROTOBUF_ROOT}/src")
+set(Protobuf_VERSION ${Protobuf_VERSION} CACHE INTERNAL "" FORCE)
+
 if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
   ocv_install_target(libprotobuf EXPORT OpenCVModules ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${OPENCV_3P_LIB_INSTALL_PATH} COMPONENT dev)
 endif()
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 77378a1b29..66f03de886 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ ocv_clear_vars(OpenCVModules_TARGETS)
 
 include(cmake/OpenCVDownload.cmake)
 
+set(BUILD_LIST "" CACHE STRING "Build only listed modules (comma-separated, e.g. 'videoio,dnn,ts')")
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Break in case of popular CMake configuration mistakes
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -625,6 +627,7 @@ include(cmake/OpenCVFindLibsGUI.cmake)
 include(cmake/OpenCVFindLibsVideo.cmake)
 include(cmake/OpenCVFindLibsPerf.cmake)
 include(cmake/OpenCVFindLAPACK.cmake)
+include(cmake/OpenCVFindProtobuf.cmake)
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #  Detect other 3rd-party libraries/tools
@@ -1359,6 +1362,10 @@ endif()
 
 status("    Custom HAL:" OpenCV_USED_HAL  THEN "YES (${OpenCV_USED_HAL})" ELSE "NO")
 
+foreach(s ${CUSTOM_STATUS})
+  status(${CUSTOM_STATUS_${s}})
+endforeach()
+
 if(WITH_CUDA OR HAVE_CUDA)
   ocv_build_features_string(cuda_features
     IF HAVE_CUFFT THEN "CUFFT"
diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVFindLibProtobuf.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVFindLibProtobuf.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index f659490106..0000000000
--- a/cmake/OpenCVFindLibProtobuf.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-# By default, we use protobuf sources from 3rdparty subdirectory and pre-generated .proto files
-# Note: In case of .proto model updates these variables should be used:
-# - PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE (required)
-# - Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS
-# - Protobuf_LIBRARIES or Protobuf_LIBRARY / Protobuf_LIBRARY_DEBUG for find_package()
-OCV_OPTION(BUILD_PROTOBUF "Force to build libprotobuf from sources" ON)
-OCV_OPTION(PROTOBUF_UPDATE_FILES "Force to rebuild .proto files" OFF)
-
-if(PROTOBUF_UPDATE_FILES)
-  if(NOT COMMAND PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP)
-    find_package(Protobuf QUIET)
-  endif()
-  if(DEFINED PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE AND EXISTS ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
-    message(STATUS "The protocol buffer compiler is found (${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})")
-  else()
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "The protocol buffer compiler is not found (PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE='${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}')")
-  endif()
-endif()
-
-if(NOT BUILD_PROTOBUF AND NOT (DEFINED Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS AND DEFINED Protobuf_LIBRARIES))
-  find_package(Protobuf QUIET)
-endif()
-
-if(Protobuf_FOUND AND NOT BUILD_PROTOBUF)
-  # nothing
-else()
-  set(Protobuf_LIBRARIES libprotobuf)
-  set(Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS "${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/protobuf/src")
-  if(NOT TARGET ${Protobuf_LIBRARIES})
-    add_subdirectory("${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/protobuf" "${OpenCV_BINARY_DIR}/3rdparty/protobuf")
-  endif()
-  set(Protobuf_FOUND 1)
-endif()
diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVFindProtobuf.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVFindProtobuf.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5114affa1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/OpenCVFindProtobuf.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# If protobuf is found - libprotobuf target is available
+
+ocv_option(WITH_PROTOBUF "Enable libprotobuf" ON)
+ocv_option(BUILD_PROTOBUF "Force to build libprotobuf from sources" ON)
+ocv_option(PROTOBUF_UPDATE_FILES "Force rebuilding .proto files (protoc should be available)" OFF)
+
+set(HAVE_PROTOBUF FALSE)
+
+if(NOT WITH_PROTOBUF)
+  return()
+endif()
+
+function(get_protobuf_version version include)
+  file(STRINGS "${include}/google/protobuf/stubs/common.h" ver REGEX "#define GOOGLE_PROTOBUF_VERSION [0-9]+")
+  string(REGEX MATCHALL "[0-9]+" ver ${ver})
+  math(EXPR major "${ver} / 1000000")
+  math(EXPR minor "${ver} / 1000 % 1000")
+  math(EXPR patch "${ver} % 1000")
+  set(${version} "${major}.${minor}.${patch}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
+if(BUILD_PROTOBUF)
+  add_subdirectory("${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/protobuf")
+  set(HAVE_PROTOBUF TRUE)
+else()
+  unset(Protobuf_VERSION CACHE)
+  find_package(Protobuf QUIET)
+
+  # Backwards compatibility
+  # Define camel case versions of input variables
+  foreach(UPPER
+      PROTOBUF_FOUND
+      PROTOBUF_LIBRARY
+      PROTOBUF_INCLUDE_DIR
+      PROTOBUF_VERSION
+      )
+      if (DEFINED ${UPPER})
+          string(REPLACE "PROTOBUF_" "Protobuf_" Camel ${UPPER})
+          if (NOT DEFINED ${Camel})
+              set(${Camel} ${${UPPER}})
+          endif()
+      endif()
+  endforeach()
+  # end of compatibility block
+
+  if(Protobuf_FOUND)
+    if(TARGET protobuf::libprotobuf)
+      add_library(libprotobuf INTERFACE)
+      target_link_libraries(libprotobuf INTERFACE protobuf::libprotobuf)
+    else()
+      add_library(libprotobuf UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+      set_target_properties(libprotobuf PROPERTIES
+        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${Protobuf_LIBRARY}"
+        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR}"
+      )
+      get_protobuf_version(Protobuf_VERSION "${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+    endif()
+    set(HAVE_PROTOBUF TRUE)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(HAVE_PROTOBUF AND PROTOBUF_UPDATE_FILES AND NOT COMMAND PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP)
+  find_package(Protobuf QUIET)
+  if(NOT COMMAND PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP command is not available")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(HAVE_PROTOBUF)
+  list(APPEND CUSTOM_STATUS protobuf)
+  list(APPEND CUSTOM_STATUS_protobuf "    Protobuf:"
+    BUILD_PROTOBUF THEN "build (${Protobuf_VERSION})"
+    ELSE "${Protobuf_LIBRARY} (${Protobuf_VERSION})")
+endif()
diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVModule.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVModule.cmake
index a73ccbd6bc..6eeba3029d 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenCVModule.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenCVModule.cmake
@@ -653,7 +653,14 @@ macro(ocv_module_include_directories)
       "${OPENCV_MODULE_${the_module}_LOCATION}/src"
       "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}" # for precompiled headers
       )
-  ocv_target_include_modules(${the_module} ${OPENCV_MODULE_${the_module}_DEPS} ${ARGN})
+  foreach(arg ${ARGN})
+    if(IS_ABSOLUTE "${arg}")
+      list(APPEND incs "${arg}")
+    else()
+      list(APPEND incs "${OPENCV_MODULE_${the_module}_LOCATION}/${arg}")
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+  ocv_target_include_modules(${the_module} ${OPENCV_MODULE_${the_module}_DEPS} ${incs})
 endmacro()
 
 
diff --git a/modules/dnn/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/dnn/CMakeLists.txt
index 985a63ba31..00e0adfc91 100644
--- a/modules/dnn/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/dnn/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,12 +2,7 @@ if(WINRT)
   ocv_module_disable(dnn)
 endif()
 
-if(DEFINED BUILD_opencv_dnn AND NOT BUILD_opencv_dnn)
-  return()
-endif()
-
-include(${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/OpenCVFindLibProtobuf.cmake)
-if(NOT Protobuf_FOUND)
+if(NOT HAVE_PROTOBUF)
   ocv_module_disable(opencv_dnn)
 endif()
 
@@ -21,8 +16,6 @@ ocv_warnings_disable(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS -Wno-shadow -Wno-parentheses -Wmaybe-uninit
 )
 ocv_warnings_disable(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS /wd4701 /wd4100)
 
-include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/ocl4dnn/include ${OPENCL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-
 if(MSVC)
   add_definitions( -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS=1 )
   ocv_warnings_disable(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS /wd4244 /wd4267 /wd4018 /wd4355 /wd4800 /wd4251 /wd4996 /wd4146
@@ -45,8 +38,9 @@ if(ANDROID)
   add_definitions(-DDISABLE_POSIX_MEMALIGN -DTH_DISABLE_HEAP_TRACKING)
 endif()
 
-#supress warnings in autogenerated caffe.pb.* files
 add_definitions(-DHAVE_PROTOBUF=1)
+
+#supress warnings in autogenerated caffe.pb.* files
 ocv_warnings_disable(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS
     -Wunused-parameter -Wundef -Wignored-qualifiers -Wno-enum-compare
     -Wdeprecated-declarations
@@ -59,26 +53,18 @@ ocv_warnings_disable(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS
 )
 
 if(PROTOBUF_UPDATE_FILES)
-  file(GLOB proto_files ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tensorflow/*.proto)
-  list(APPEND proto_files ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/caffe/opencv-caffe.proto)
+  file(GLOB proto_files "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tensorflow/*.proto" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/caffe/opencv-caffe.proto")
   set(PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP_APPEND_PATH ON) # required for tensorflow
-  PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP(Protobuf_HDRS Protobuf_SRCS ${proto_files})
+  protobuf_generate_cpp(fw_srcs fw_hdrs ${proto_files})
 else()
-  file(GLOB fw_srcs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/tensorflow/*.cc)
-  file(GLOB fw_hdrs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/tensorflow/*.h)
-  list(APPEND fw_srcs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/caffe/opencv-caffe.pb.cc)
-  list(APPEND fw_hdrs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/caffe/opencv-caffe.pb.h)
-  list(APPEND Protobuf_SRCS ${fw_srcs})
-  list(APPEND Protobuf_HDRS ${fw_hdrs})
-  list(APPEND Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/caffe)
-  list(APPEND Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/tensorflow)
+  file(GLOB fw_srcs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/tensorflow/*.cc" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/caffe/opencv-caffe.pb.cc")
+  file(GLOB fw_hdrs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/tensorflow/*.h" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/caffe/opencv-caffe.pb.h")
+  set(fw_inc "misc/caffe" "misc/tensorflow")
 endif()
 
-ocv_source_group("Src\\protobuf" FILES ${Protobuf_SRCS} ${Protobuf_HDRS})
-ocv_module_include_directories(include ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-
-ocv_glob_module_sources(${Protobuf_SRCS} ${Protobuf_HDRS} ${CBLAS_H_PROXY_PATH})
-ocv_create_module(${Protobuf_LIBRARIES} ${LAPACK_LIBRARIES})
+ocv_module_include_directories(${fw_inc} src/ocl4dnn/include ${OPENCL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+ocv_glob_module_sources(SOURCES ${fw_srcs})
+ocv_create_module(libprotobuf ${LAPACK_LIBRARIES})
 ocv_add_samples()
 ocv_add_accuracy_tests()
 ocv_add_perf_tests()
diff --git a/modules/dnn/src/caffe/caffe_shrinker.cpp b/modules/dnn/src/caffe/caffe_shrinker.cpp
index 98df108c0e..9dc6f9f862 100644
--- a/modules/dnn/src/caffe/caffe_shrinker.cpp
+++ b/modules/dnn/src/caffe/caffe_shrinker.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,11 @@ void shrinkCaffeModel(const String& src, const String& dst, const std::vector<St
             blob->set_raw_data_type(caffe::FLOAT16);
         }
     }
+#if GOOGLE_PROTOBUF_VERSION < 3005000
+    size_t msgSize = saturate_cast<size_t>(net.ByteSize());
+#else
     size_t msgSize = net.ByteSizeLong();
+#endif
     std::vector<uint8_t> output(msgSize);
     net.SerializeWithCachedSizesToArray(&output[0]);
 
diff --git a/modules/world/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/world/CMakeLists.txt
index 943a27ea19..269beb7bc3 100644
--- a/modules/world/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/world/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,20 +38,20 @@ endif()
 
 ocv_add_module(world opencv_core)
 
-set(headers_list "HEADERS")
-set(sources_list "SOURCES")
+set(headers_list)
+set(sources_list)
 set(link_deps "")
 foreach(m ${OPENCV_MODULE_${the_module}_DEPS} opencv_world)
   if(OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_IS_PART_OF_WORLD)
-    set(headers_list "${headers_list};${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_HEADERS}")
-    set(sources_list "${sources_list};${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_SOURCES}")
+    list(APPEND headers_list ${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_HEADERS})
+    list(APPEND sources_list ${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_SOURCES})
   endif()
   if(NOT " ${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_LINK_DEPS}" STREQUAL " ")
     list(APPEND link_deps ${OPENCV_MODULE_${m}_LINK_DEPS})
   endif()
 endforeach()
 
-ocv_glob_module_sources(${headers_list} ${sources_list})
+ocv_glob_module_sources(HEADERS ${headers_list} SOURCES ${sources_list})
 
 ocv_module_include_directories()