diff --git a/cmake/simde.cmake b/cmake/simde.cmake
index 12c56c6d..bf9766b6 100644
--- a/cmake/simde.cmake
+++ b/cmake/simde.cmake
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 # include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/simde/simde)
 
-set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_BACKEND")
-set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_BACKEND")
+pkg_check_modules(SIMDE simde)
 
-if (SIMDE_NATIVE)
-  set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_NATIVE -DSIMDE_ENABLE_OPENMP -fopenmp-simd")
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_NATIVE -DSIMDE_ENABLE_OPENMP -fopenmp-simd")
+if (SIMDE_FOUND)
+  set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_BACKEND")
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_BACKEND")
+
+  if (SIMDE_NATIVE)
+    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_NATIVE -DSIMDE_ENABLE_OPENMP -fopenmp-simd")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DVS_SIMDE_NATIVE -DSIMDE_ENABLE_OPENMP -fopenmp-simd")
+  endif()
+else()
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "SIMDe backend requested but SIMDe is not available on the system")
 endif()