diff --git a/lib/cpp/Makefile.am b/lib/cpp/Makefile.am
index 7b879f3..9810745 100755
--- a/lib/cpp/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/cpp/Makefile.am
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@
 THRIFT = $(top_builddir)/compiler/cpp/thrift
 
 WINDOWS_DIST = \
-             README_WINDOWS \
+             README_WINDOWS.md \
              src/thrift/windows \
              thrift.sln \
              libthrift.vcxproj \
@@ -234,8 +234,8 @@
              libthriftnb.vcxproj.filters
 
 EXTRA_DIST = \
-             README \
-             README.SSL \
+             README.md \
+             README.SSL.md \
              thrift-nb.pc.in \
              thrift.pc.in \
              thrift-z.pc.in \
diff --git a/lib/cpp/README.SSL b/lib/cpp/README.SSL.md
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/cpp/README.SSL
rename to lib/cpp/README.SSL.md
diff --git a/lib/cpp/README b/lib/cpp/README.md
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/cpp/README
rename to lib/cpp/README.md
diff --git a/lib/cpp/README_WINDOWS b/lib/cpp/README_WINDOWS.md
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/cpp/README_WINDOWS
rename to lib/cpp/README_WINDOWS.md