diff --git a/cmake/MakeConfig.cmake b/cmake/MakeConfig.cmake
index b28ac9a4f..4ec1a0b18 100644
--- a/cmake/MakeConfig.cmake
+++ b/cmake/MakeConfig.cmake
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ else()
         get_filename_component(XERCESCROOT "${XercesC_INCLUDE_DIRS}" DIRECTORY)
         set(XERCES_CPPFLAGS "-I${XercesC_INCLUDE_DIRS} -I${XercesC_INCLUDE_DIRS}/xercesc")
         set(XERCES_LIBS "${XercesC_LIBRARIES}")
+    else()
+        set(JANA2_HAVE_XERCES 0)
+        set(XERCES3 0)
     endif()
 endif()