diff --git a/cmake/config/common.cmake b/cmake/config/common.cmake
index d95d0ec7a2..96b105c6c0 100644
--- a/cmake/config/common.cmake
+++ b/cmake/config/common.cmake
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ include(CheckSymbolExists)
 include(CheckIncludeFile)
 include(CheckTypeSize)
 include(FindPkgConfig)
+include(FindJPEG)
 include(CTest)
 find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
 
@@ -10,7 +11,9 @@ pkg_check_modules(LIBSYSTEMD libsystemd)
 pkg_check_modules(VALGRIND valgrind)
 pkg_check_modules(OPENSSL openssl>=1.0)
 pkg_check_modules(GNUTLS gnutls>=2.12.16)
-pkg_check_modules(LIBJPEG libjpeg REQUIRED)
+if (NOT JPEG_FOUND)
+  error("a jpeg library is needed.")
+endif()
 
 set(SUGGEST_VALGRIND OFF)
 if("${BUILD_PROFILE}" STREQUAL "dev")
diff --git a/src/lib/emile/CMakeLists.txt b/src/lib/emile/CMakeLists.txt
index d6c315521a..899013cd9b 100644
--- a/src/lib/emile/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/lib/emile/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ set(DESCRIPTION "Library for simplified serialization, compression and ciphering
 
 set(PKG_CONFIG_REQUIRES_PRIVATE
   zlib>=1.2.3
-  libjpeg
+  #libjpeg is hard to find. there is a cmake module that does find it. and thats checked in common.cmake
+  #libjpeg
 )
 
 set(LIBRARIES