diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f4fe4c4f3..6268957c8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -46,10 +46,14 @@ endif()
 
 # Dealing with MOAB
 if (PULL_INSTALL_MOAB)
+  set(MOAB_VERSION ${PULL_INSTALL_MOAB})  
+
   # Ensure MOAB_VERSION
-  if(NOT DEFINED MOAB_VERSION)
+  if(${MOAB_VERSION})
+    MESSAGE("NO MOAB_VERSION specified. Defaulting to 5.5.1")
     set(MOAB_VERSION "5.5.1")
   endif()
+  MESSAGE("MOAB_VERSION to be installed: ${MOAB_VERSION}")
   include(MOAB_PullAndMake)
   moab_pull_make(${MOAB_VERSION})
 else()
diff --git a/cmake/DAGMC_macros.cmake b/cmake/DAGMC_macros.cmake
index bd34eb1e4..240307621 100644
--- a/cmake/DAGMC_macros.cmake
+++ b/cmake/DAGMC_macros.cmake
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ macro (dagmc_setup_options)
 
   option(DOUBLE_DOWN "Enable ray tracing with Embree via double down" OFF)
 
-  option(PULL_INSTALL_MOAB "Enable automatic downloading of MOAB dependency" OFF)
+  option(PULL_INSTALL_MOAB "Enable automatic downloading of MOAB dependency, provide a MOAB TAG version" OFF)
   
   if (BUILD_ALL)
     set(BUILD_MCNP5  ON)
diff --git a/doc/install/cmake_options.rst b/doc/install/cmake_options.rst
index db5827a07..47875e356 100644
--- a/doc/install/cmake_options.rst
+++ b/doc/install/cmake_options.rst
@@ -61,3 +61,8 @@ Note that unless set, all boolean options default to ``OFF``.
     * ``-DBUILD_PIC=ON`` Build with position-independent code. (Default: OFF)
 
     * ``-DBUILD_RPATH=ON`` Build with RPATH functionality. (Default: ON)
+
+    * ``-DPULL_INSTALL_MOAB=MOAB_version`` Enables automatic downloading of MOAB
+      dependency, provide a MOAB TAG version, (default: OFF). When using this 
+      option, it is required to provide the path to HDF5 location, using 
+      ``-DHDF5_ROOT``.
diff --git a/doc/install/dependencies.rst b/doc/install/dependencies.rst
index 98e24bdbf..f7cbe1746 100644
--- a/doc/install/dependencies.rst
+++ b/doc/install/dependencies.rst
@@ -106,6 +106,17 @@ To build moab using the default packages:
     $ make check
     $ make install
 
+If you whish to avoid building MOAB from source, it is possible to build it at
+the same time as DAGMC by setting the ``PULL_INSTALL_MOAB`` option to the 
+desired MOAB version. This will automatically download and build MOAB as a 
+dependency of DAGMC. When using this option it is assumed that HDF5 is properly
+installed on your computer and you will need to provide its location for the 
+MOAB installation. For example, to build MOAB version 5.5.1, you would add the 
+following flag to the cmake command when building DAGMC:
+::
+
+    $ cmake ../dagmc -DPULL_INSTALL_MOAB=5.5.1 -DHDF5_ROOT=PATH_TO_HDF5
+
 Making sure the dependencies were installed correctly
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~