diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3bc05b110..4a435860c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -156,11 +156,6 @@ elseif(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux" OR
     if(HTS_ENGINE_FOUND)
         set(SYSTEM_HTS_ENGINE_DEFAULT 1)
     endif()
-
-    find_package(CppUnit)
-    if (CPPUNIT_FOUND)
-        set(SYSTEM_CPPUNIT_DEFAULT 1)
-    endif()
 endif()
 
 # FlightGear build options
@@ -181,7 +176,7 @@ option(SYSTEM_SPEEX      "Set to ON to build IAXClient with the system's speex a
 option(SYSTEM_GSM        "Set to ON to build IAXClient with the system's GSM library" ${SYSTEM_GSM_DEFAULT})
 option(SYSTEM_FLITE      "Set to ON to build Flightgear with the system's Flite library" ${SYSTEM_FLITE_DEFAULT})
 option(SYSTEM_HTS_ENGINE "Set to ON to build Flightgear with the system's HTS Engine library" ${SYSTEM_HTS_ENGINE_DEFAULT})
-option(SYSTEM_CPPUNIT    "Set to ON to build Flightgear with the system's CppUnit library" ${SYSTEM_CPPUNIT_DEFAULT})
+option(SYSTEM_CPPUNIT    "Set to ON to build Flightgear with the system's CppUnit library")
 
 # additional utilities
 option(ENABLE_FGELEV     "Set to ON to build the fgelev application (default)" ON)
@@ -279,6 +274,10 @@ if (ENABLE_SWIFT)
     endif()
 endif()
 
+if (SYSTEM_CPPUNIT)
+    find_package(CppUnit REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
 # check required dependencies
 find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
 find_package(OpenGL  REQUIRED)