diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index be56f1c12..98dc4fcaf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -128,6 +128,13 @@ if(${HDF5_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 1.12.0)
   list(APPEND cxxflags -DH5Oget_info_by_idx_vers=1 -DH5O_info_t_vers=1)
 endif()
 
+#===============================================================================
+# MCPL
+#===============================================================================
+if (OPENMC_USE_MCPL)
+  find_package(MCPL REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
 #===============================================================================
 # Set compile/link flags based on which compiler is being used
 #===============================================================================
@@ -155,10 +162,6 @@ if(OPENMC_ENABLE_COVERAGE)
   list(APPEND ldflags --coverage)
 endif()
 
-if(OPENMC_USE_MCPL)
-  list(APPEND ldflags -lmcpl)
-endif()
-
 # Show flags being used
 message(STATUS "OpenMC C++ flags: ${cxxflags}")
 message(STATUS "OpenMC Linker flags: ${ldflags}")
@@ -413,10 +416,6 @@ endif()
 if (OPENMC_USE_MPI)
   target_compile_definitions(libopenmc PUBLIC -DOPENMC_MPI)
 endif()
-if(OPENMC_USE_MCPL)
-  target_compile_definitions(libopenmc PUBLIC -DOPENMC_MCPL)
-endif()
-
 
 # Set git SHA1 hash as a compile definition
 if(GIT_FOUND)
@@ -460,6 +459,11 @@ if (OPENMC_USE_MPI)
   target_link_libraries(libopenmc MPI::MPI_CXX)
 endif()
 
+if (OPENMC_USE_MCPL)
+  target_compile_definitions(libopenmc PUBLIC OPENMC_MCPL)
+  target_link_libraries(libopenmc MCPL::mcpl)
+endif()
+
 #===============================================================================
 # openmc executable
 #===============================================================================