diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7d21cf2..2669b17 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -270,7 +270,11 @@ if(APPLE)
   set(ARMA_USE_ACCELERATE true)
   
   if(ALLOW_OPENBLAS_MACOS)
-    include(ARMA_FindOpenBLAS)
+    if(USE_OPENBLAS)
+        find_package(OpenBLAS)
+    else()
+        set(OpenBLAS_FOUND NO)
+    endif()
     message(STATUS "OpenBLAS_FOUND = ${OpenBLAS_FOUND}")
     message(STATUS "")
     message(STATUS "*** If use of OpenBLAS is causing problems,")
@@ -285,8 +289,16 @@ if(APPLE)
   endif()
   
   if(ALLOW_BLAS_LAPACK_MACOS)
-    include(ARMA_FindBLAS)
-    include(ARMA_FindLAPACK)
+    if(USE_SYSTEM_BLAS)
+      include(ARMA_FindBLAS)
+    else()
+      set(BLAS_FOUND NO)
+    endif()
+    if(USE_SYSTEM_LAPACK)
+      include(ARMA_FindLAPACK)
+    else()
+      set(LAPACK_FOUND NO)
+    endif()
     message(STATUS "  BLAS_FOUND = ${BLAS_FOUND}"  )
     message(STATUS "LAPACK_FOUND = ${LAPACK_FOUND}")
     message(STATUS "")
@@ -325,19 +337,45 @@ if(APPLE)
   
 else()
   
-  if(ALLOW_FLEXIBLAS_LINUX AND (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux"))
-    include(ARMA_FindFlexiBLAS)
+  if(USE_MKL)
+    find_package(MKL)
   else()
-    set(FlexiBLAS_FOUND false)
+    set(MKL_FOUND NO)
+  endif()
+
+  if(USE_OPENBLAS)
+    find_package(OpenBLAS)
+  else()
+    set(OpenBLAS_FOUND NO)
+  endif()
+
+  if(USE_SYSTEM_ATLAS)
+    include(ARMA_FindATLAS)
+  else()
+    set(ATLAS_FOUND NO)
+  endif()
+
+  if(USE_SYSTEM_BLAS)
+    include(ARMA_FindBLAS)
+  else()
+    set(BLAS_FOUND NO)
+  endif()
+
+  if(USE_SYSTEM_LAPACK)
+    include(ARMA_FindLAPACK)
+  else()
+    set(LAPACK_FOUND NO)
   endif()
   
-  include(ARMA_FindMKL)
-  include(ARMA_FindOpenBLAS)
-  include(ARMA_FindATLAS)     # TODO: remove support for ATLAS in next major version
-  include(ARMA_FindBLAS)
-  include(ARMA_FindLAPACK)
-  
-  message(STATUS "FlexiBLAS_FOUND = ${FlexiBLAS_FOUND}" )
+  if(ALLOW_FLEXIBLAS_LINUX AND (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux"))
+    if(USE_SYSTEM_FLEXIBLAS)
+      include(ARMA_FindFlexiBLAS)
+    else()
+      set(FlexiBLAS_FOUND NO)
+    endif()
+  endif()
+
+  message(STATUS "FlexiBLAS_FOUND = ${FlexiBLAS_FOUND}" )  
   message(STATUS "      MKL_FOUND = ${MKL_FOUND}"       )
   message(STATUS " OpenBLAS_FOUND = ${OpenBLAS_FOUND}"  )
   message(STATUS "    ATLAS_FOUND = ${ATLAS_FOUND}"     )
@@ -449,7 +487,11 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 
-include(ARMA_FindARPACK)
+if(USE_SYSTEM_ARPACK)
+  include(ARMA_FindARPACK)
+else()
+  set(ARPACK_FOUND NO)
+endif()
 message(STATUS "ARPACK_FOUND = ${ARPACK_FOUND}")
 
 if(ARPACK_FOUND)
@@ -457,7 +499,11 @@ if(ARPACK_FOUND)
   set(ARMA_LIBS ${ARMA_LIBS} ${ARPACK_LIBRARY})
 endif()
 
-include(ARMA_FindSuperLU5)
+if(USE_SYSTEM_SUPERLU)
+  include(ARMA_FindSuperLU5)
+else()
+  set(SuperLU_FOUND NO)
+endif()
 message(STATUS "SuperLU_FOUND = ${SuperLU_FOUND}")
 
 if(SuperLU_FOUND)
-- 
2.41.0