diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 85c1061..684205f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -232,16 +232,17 @@ if (SQLITECPP_INTERNAL_SQLITE)
     add_subdirectory(sqlite3)
     target_link_libraries(SQLiteCpp PUBLIC sqlite3)
 else (SQLITECPP_INTERNAL_SQLITE)
-    find_package (SQLite3 REQUIRED)
-    message(STATUS "Link to sqlite3 system library")
-    target_link_libraries(SQLiteCpp PUBLIC SQLite::SQLite3)
-    if(SQLite3_VERSION VERSION_LESS "3.19")
-        set_target_properties(SQLiteCpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-DSQLITECPP_HAS_MEM_STRUCT")
-    endif()
+    if(NOT SQLITE_HAS_CODEC)
+		find_package(unofficial-sqlite3 CONFIG)
+		message(STATUS "Link to sqlite3 system library")
+		target_link_libraries(SQLiteCpp PRIVATE unofficial::sqlite3::sqlite3)
+		if(SQLite3_VERSION VERSION_LESS "3.19")
+			set_target_properties(SQLiteCpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-DSQLITECPP_HAS_MEM_STRUCT")
+		endif()
+	else()
+		# When using the SQLite codec, we need to link against the sqlcipher lib & include <sqlcipher/sqlite3.h>
+		# So this gets the lib & header, and links/includes everything
 
-    # When using the SQLite codec, we need to link against the sqlcipher lib & include <sqlcipher/sqlite3.h>
-    # So this gets the lib & header, and links/includes everything
-    if(SQLITE_HAS_CODEC)
         # Make PkgConfig optional since Windows doesn't usually have it installed.
         find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)
         if(PKG_CONFIG_FOUND)