diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4e99b0b1a9..1b8ef5601f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ endif()
 # Search for project-specific dependencies
 #============================================================================
 
+# This option is needed to use the PROTOBUF_GENERATE_CPP
+# in case protobuf is found with the CMake config files
+# It needs to be set before any find_package(...) call 
+# as protobuf could be find transitively by any dependency
+set(protobuf_MODULE_COMPATIBLE TRUE)
+
 ign_find_package(sdformat9 REQUIRED VERSION 9.3.0)
 set(SDF_VER ${sdformat9_VERSION_MAJOR})