diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 21c64b0b926..aa2fe14fe23 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -428,7 +428,9 @@ if (APPLE)
   set(CMAKE_INSTALL_NAME_DIR "@rpath")
   set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "@executable_path/../lib")
 else(UNIX)
-  set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "\$ORIGIN/../lib")
+  if(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH)
+    set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "\$ORIGIN/../lib")
+  endif(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH)
 endif()
 
 set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR ON)