diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 782f274b..a8706b0d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ option(WITH_VAES            "Enable VAES instructions for Cryptonight" ON)
 option(WITH_BENCHMARK       "Enable builtin RandomX benchmark and stress test" ON)
 option(WITH_SECURE_JIT      "Enable secure access to JIT memory" OFF)
 option(WITH_DMI             "Enable DMI/SMBIOS reader" ON)
+option(WITH_BUNDLED_FMT     "Force use of bundled fmt library" ON)
 
 option(BUILD_STATIC         "Build static binary" OFF)
 option(ARM_TARGET           "Force use specific ARM target 8 or 7" 0)
diff --git a/cmake/fmt.cmake b/cmake/fmt.cmake
index 91210752..21aaaf7f 100644
--- a/cmake/fmt.cmake
+++ b/cmake/fmt.cmake
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2023 Jean-Pierre De Jesus DIAZ <me@jeandudey.tech>
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 
-find_package(fmt QUIET)
 
-if(fmt_FOUND)
-    set(FMT_LIBRARY fmt::fmt)
-else()
-    message(STATUS "Using bundled fmt library")
+if(WITH_BUNDLED_FMT)
     add_library(fmt INTERFACE)
     target_sources(fmt INTERFACE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/3rdparty/fmt/format.cc)
     target_include_directories(fmt INTERFACE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/3rdparty/fmt)
+else()
     set(FMT_LIBRARY fmt)
+    find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
+    set(FMT_LIBRARY fmt::fmt)
 endif()