diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/audio/meson.build b/gst-libs/gst/audio/meson.build
index 2a449d4bf1..7a259d4675 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/audio/meson.build
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/audio/meson.build
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/video/meson.build b/gst-libs/gst/video/meson.build
index bf77aa157f..d1d0492099 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/video/meson.build
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/video/meson.build
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst/adder/meson.build b/gst/adder/meson.build
index 6e47908ddb..c87aa5adba 100644
--- a/gst/adder/meson.build
+++ b/gst/adder/meson.build
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst/audiomixer/meson.build b/gst/audiomixer/meson.build
index 6bd3fe5bea..4e02a708de 100644
--- a/gst/audiomixer/meson.build
+++ b/gst/audiomixer/meson.build
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst/compositor/meson.build b/gst/compositor/meson.build
index 8d81b8604d..23aacabc34 100644
--- a/gst/compositor/meson.build
+++ b/gst/compositor/meson.build
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst/videotestsrc/meson.build b/gst/videotestsrc/meson.build
index df6725cb9b..abcc83c14d 100644
--- a/gst/videotestsrc/meson.build
+++ b/gst/videotestsrc/meson.build
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/gst/volume/meson.build b/gst/volume/meson.build
index 3a08684acc..25aed3eb96 100644
--- a/gst/volume/meson.build
+++ b/gst/volume/meson.build
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ if have_orcc
     input : orcsrc + '.orc',
     output : orcsrc + '.c',
     command : orcc_args + ['--implementation', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+  orc_targets += {'name': orcsrc, 'orc-source': files(orcsrc + '.orc'), 'header': orc_h, 'source': orc_c}
 else
   orc_h = configure_file(input : orcsrc + '-dist.h',
     output : orcsrc + '.h',
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c3c15c4439..78a0cc4e21 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ gst_controller_dep = dependency('gstreamer-controller-1.0', version : gst_req,
 
 have_orcc = false
 orcc_args = []
+orc_targets = []
 # Used by various libraries/elements that use Orc code
 orc_dep = dependency('orc-0.4', version : orc_req, required : get_option('orc'),
     fallback : ['orc', 'orc_dep'])
@@ -417,6 +418,29 @@ if find_program('xgettext', required : get_option('nls')).found()
 endif
 subdir('docs')
 
+if have_orcc
+  update_orc_dist_files = find_program('scripts/update-orc-dist-files.py')
+
+  orc_update_targets = []
+  foreach t : orc_targets
+    orc_name = t.get('name')
+    orc_file = t.get('orc-source')
+    header = t.get('header')
+    source = t.get('source')
+    # alias_target() only works with build targets, so can't use run_target() here
+    orc_update_targets += [
+      custom_target('update-orc-@0@'.format(orc_name),
+        input: [header, source],
+        command: [update_orc_dist_files, orc_file, header, source],
+        output: ['@0@-dist.c'.format(orc_name)]) # not entirely true
+    ]
+  endforeach
+
+  if meson.version().version_compare('>= 0.52')
+    update_orc_dist_target = alias_target('update-orc-dist', orc_update_targets)
+  endif
+endif
+
 # Use core_conf after all subdirs have set values
 configure_file(output : 'config.h', configuration : core_conf)
 
diff --git a/scripts/update-orc-dist-files.py b/scripts/update-orc-dist-files.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..592d04e6e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/update-orc-dist-files.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#
+# update-orc-dist-files.py ORC-FILE GENERATED-HEADER GENERATED-SOURCE
+#
+# Copies generated orc .c and .h files into source dir as -dist.[ch] backups,
+# based on location of passed .orc file.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Tim-Philipp Müller <tim centricular com>
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# Library General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor,
+# Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+assert(len(sys.argv) == 4)
+
+orc_file = sys.argv[1]
+gen_header = sys.argv[2]
+gen_source = sys.argv[3]
+
+# split off .orc suffix
+assert(orc_file.endswith('.orc'))
+orc_src_base = sys.argv[1][:-4]
+
+# figure out names of disted backup files
+dist_h = orc_src_base + "-dist.h"
+dist_c = orc_src_base + "-dist.c"
+
+# copy generated files from build dir into source dir
+shutil.copyfile(gen_header, dist_h)
+shutil.copyfile(gen_source, dist_c)
+
+# run gst-indent on the .c files (twice, because gnu indent)
+subprocess.run(['gst-indent', dist_c])
+subprocess.run(['gst-indent', dist_c])