diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d0065b17a..21c2edf95 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ find_package( VTK REQUIRED
     CommonDataModel
     CommonExecutionModel
     freetype
+  OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS
+    mpi
 )
 message(STATUS "VTK ${VTK_VERSION} found")
 find_package( RapidJSON REQUIRED )