diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 917906250dd0e25cb2c3cc23fe85835fe93564ba..3d34337f7c4b84fa5d50a652bcf7d9492faefb17 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ option(OGS_USE_PCH "Should pre-compiled headers be used?" ON)
 option(OGS_USE_CONAN "Should Conan package manager be used?" OFF)
 set(OGS_CONAN_BUILD "missing" CACHE STRING "Possible values: all, missing, \
     never or list of libs to build" )
+if(OGS_USE_PETSC)
+    set(OGS_USE_MPI ON CACHE BOOL "Use MPI" FORCE)
+endif()
 
 ### CMake includes ###
 include(scripts/cmake/PreFind.cmake)
@@ -191,7 +194,6 @@ endif()
 
 if(OGS_USE_PETSC)
     add_definitions(-DUSE_PETSC)
-    set(OGS_USE_MPI ON CACHE BOOL "Use MPI" FORCE)
 endif()
 
 # Use MPI