diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9924d86605cacf408832ed807e6923cc639702a9..09803fd458a299fb51c0277dc6631fa655d24951 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ if (${netCDF_FOUND})
     message("added compile definition HAVE_LIBNETCDF=${netCDF_FOUND}")
     message("added compile definition HAVE_NETCDF4=${netCDF_FOUND}")
     add_compile_definitions(HAVE_LIBNETCDF=${netCDF_FOUND})
-    add_compile_definitions(HAVE_NETCDF4=1)
+    add_compile_definitions(HAVE_NETCDF4=${netCDF_FOUND})
 else()
   message(WARNING "netcdf not found, compiling without netcdf")
 endif ()