diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index de8b6405a..2b2173ad8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -154,6 +154,13 @@ if (NOT SNAPPY_FOUND)
     return()
 endif()
 
+FIND_PACKAGE(CURL)
+if (NOT CURL_FOUND)
+    MESSAGE_ONCE(CS_NO_CURL "libcurl development headers not found")
+    return()
+endif()
+
+
 FIND_PROGRAM(AWK_EXECUTABLE awk DOC "path to the awk executable")
 if(NOT AWK_EXECUTABLE)
     MESSAGE_ONCE(CS_NO_AWK "awk not found!")
diff --git a/utils/libmarias3/CMakeLists.txt b/utils/libmarias3/CMakeLists.txt
index 5de4533a5..71be94bab 100644
--- a/utils/libmarias3/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/utils/libmarias3/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ SET(S3_SOURCES ${S3API_DIR}/src/debug.c
 
 ADD_LIBRARY(marias3 SHARED ${S3_SOURCES})
 
-FIND_PACKAGE(CURL REQUIRED)
 TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(marias3 curl)
 INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${S3API_DIR})