diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6a6e0bbdfa5..137bd959759 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -428,6 +428,14 @@ if(FLB_SMALL)
   set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Os -g0 ${strip_flag} -fno-stack-protector -fomit-frame-pointer -DNDEBUG -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE")
 endif()
 
+# simdutf
+if(FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER)
+  if (NOT FLB_USE_SIMDUTF)
+    message(STATUS "FLB_USE_SIMDUTF is disabled. Disabling FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER support.")
+    set(FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER OFF)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 if(FLB_COVERAGE)
   set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -g -O0 --coverage -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage")
   if (FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER)
@@ -598,6 +606,9 @@ endif()
 
 # simdutf
 if(FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER)
+  if (NOT FLB_USE_SIMDUTF)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER requires FLB_USE_SIMDUTF")
+  endif()
   enable_language(CXX)
   set (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
   add_subdirectory(${FLB_PATH_LIB_SIMDUTF} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)