diff --git a/cpp/BoostParts/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/BoostParts/CMakeLists.txt
index adf70260..ae3b357d 100644
--- a/cpp/BoostParts/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/BoostParts/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,10 +21,11 @@
 #
 # bcp call: bcp boost/python.hpp boost/bind.hpp boost/lambda/lambda.hpp boost/exception/all.hpp boost/tuple/tuple_io.hpp boost/tuple/tuple_comparison.hpp boost/regex.hpp boost/foreach.hpp boost/smart_ptr.hpp boost/algorithm/string_regex.hpp boost/thread.hpp boost/unordered_map.hpp boost/unordered_set.hpp boost/format.hpp boost/ptr_container/ptr_container.hpp ../BoostParts
 
-# WARNING: When doing this from fresh boost sources, note that
-# in the file /boost/config/user.hpp the BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB
-# define has been uncommented. Otherwise, we will get linker
-# errors on MSVC because of boost auto-linking.
+# WARNING: When doing this from fresh boost sources, note that in the file
+# /boost/config/user.hpp the BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB define has been uncommented.
+# Otherwise, we will get linker errors on MSVC because of boost auto-linking. If
+# you don't care about Windows then feel free to use the raw boost version of
+# /boost/config/user.hpp
 
 cmake_minimum_required( VERSION 2.8 )
 
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ endif()
 #############################################################################
 
 include_directories(
+  SYSTEM
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
   ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   )
@@ -73,7 +75,9 @@ add_library( BoostParts ${SOURCES} )
 #############################################################################
 
 if( CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR COMPILER_IS_CLANG )
-  add_definitions( -Wno-parentheses-equality )
+  # No warnings. We just use Boost as is so warnings coming from it are just
+  # noise.
+  add_definitions( -w )
 endif()
 
 #############################################################################
diff --git a/cpp/ycm/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/ycm/CMakeLists.txt
index 2e986bb5..a2660cd5 100644
--- a/cpp/ycm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/ycm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ project( indexer )
 
 find_package( PythonLibs REQUIRED )
 
+# This is a workaround for a CMake bug with include_directories(SYSTEM ...)
+# on Mac OS X. Bug report: http://public.kitware.com/Bug/view.php?id=10837
+set( CMAKE_INCLUDE_SYSTEM_FLAG_CXX "-isystem " )
+
 # The SYSTEM flag makes sure that -isystem[header path] is passed to the
 # compiler instead of the standard -I[header path]. Headers included with
 # -isystem do not generate warnings (and they shouldn't; e.g. boost warnings are
@@ -42,6 +46,8 @@ if( to_remove )
   list( REMOVE_ITEM SOURCES ${to_remove} )
 endif()
 
+#############################################################################
+
 add_library( ${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED
              ${SOURCES}
            )
@@ -51,6 +57,11 @@ target_link_libraries( ${PROJECT_NAME}
                        ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES}
                      )
 
+#############################################################################
+
+
+# We don't want the "lib" prefix, it can screw up python when it tries to search
+# for our module
 set_target_properties( ${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES PREFIX "")
 
 # Even on macs, we want a .so extension instead of a .dylib which is what cmake
@@ -61,7 +72,7 @@ if ( NOT WIN32 )
 endif()
 
 set_target_properties( ${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES
-  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../python)
+  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../python )
 
 if ( CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang" )
   set( COMPILER_IS_CLANG true )
@@ -69,8 +80,7 @@ endif()
 
 if( CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR COMPILER_IS_CLANG )
   # We want all warnings, and warnings should be treated as errors
-  # TODO: this breaks with boost; fix it!
-  #add_definitions( -Wall -Wextra -Werror )
+  add_definitions( -Wall -Wextra -Werror )
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory( tests )
diff --git a/cpp/ycm/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/ycm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index e6195b50..7e25f0f3 100644
--- a/cpp/ycm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/ycm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,17 +23,14 @@ if ( COMPILER_IS_CLANG )
   add_definitions( -Wno-long-long -Wno-variadic-macros )
 endif()
 
-# For whatever reason, cmake does something stupid with pthread detection on
-# Mac which makes gtest go stupid too, so we turn of pthread use in gtest; we
-# don't really need it either way
-if ( APPLE )
-  add_definitions( -DGTEST_HAS_PTHREAD=0 )
-endif()
-
 add_subdirectory( gmock )
 
 include_directories(
   ${indexer_SOURCE_DIR}
+  )
+
+include_directories(
+  SYSTEM
   ${gtest_SOURCE_DIR}
   ${gtest_SOURCE_DIR}/include
   ${gmock_SOURCE_DIR}