diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7b2a1845e..23cfbce5a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ else()
     set(LLAMA_STANDALONE OFF)
 endif()
 
+option(LLAMA_USE_SYSTEM_GGML "Use system libggml" OFF)
+
 if (EMSCRIPTEN)
     set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_DEFAULT OFF)
 
@@ -145,7 +147,13 @@ endif()
 # 3rd-party
 #
 
-if (NOT TARGET ggml)
+if (LLAMA_USE_SYSTEM_GGML)
+    message(STATUS "Using system-provided libggml, skipping ggml build")
+    find_package(ggml REQUIRED)
+    add_library(ggml ALIAS ggml::ggml)
+endif()
+
+if (NOT TARGET ggml AND NOT LLAMA_USE_SYSTEM_GGML)
     add_subdirectory(ggml)
     # ... otherwise assume ggml is added by a parent CMakeLists.txt
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/common.cmake b/cmake/common.cmake
index 0f54871e4..a5bb787f1 100644
--- a/cmake/common.cmake
+++ b/cmake/common.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+include("ggml/cmake/common.cmake")
+
 function(llama_add_compile_flags)
     if (LLAMA_FATAL_WARNINGS)
         if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU" OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
diff --git a/ggml/cmake/common.cmake b/ggml/cmake/common.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1976d0ae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ggml/cmake/common.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+function(ggml_get_flags CCID CCVER)
+    set(C_FLAGS "")
+    set(CXX_FLAGS "")
+
+    if (CCID MATCHES "Clang")
+        set(C_FLAGS   -Wunreachable-code-break -Wunreachable-code-return)
+        set(CXX_FLAGS -Wunreachable-code-break -Wunreachable-code-return -Wmissing-prototypes -Wextra-semi)
+
+        if (
+            (CCID STREQUAL "Clang"      AND CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.8.0) OR
+            (CCID STREQUAL "AppleClang" AND CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 7.3.0)
+        )
+            list(APPEND C_FLAGS -Wdouble-promotion)
+        endif()
+    elseif (CCID STREQUAL "GNU")
+        set(C_FLAGS   -Wdouble-promotion)
+        set(CXX_FLAGS -Wno-array-bounds)
+
+        if (CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 8.1.0)
+            list(APPEND CXX_FLAGS -Wextra-semi)
+        endif()
+    endif()
+
+    set(GF_C_FLAGS   ${C_FLAGS}   PARENT_SCOPE)
+    set(GF_CXX_FLAGS ${CXX_FLAGS} PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
diff --git a/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt b/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 52817510f..a797e2b18 100644
--- a/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
+include("../cmake/common.cmake")
 
 add_compile_definitions(GGML_SCHED_MAX_COPIES=${GGML_SCHED_MAX_COPIES})
 
@@ -24,33 +25,6 @@ if (NOT MSVC)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-function(ggml_get_flags CCID CCVER)
-    set(C_FLAGS "")
-    set(CXX_FLAGS "")
-
-    if (CCID MATCHES "Clang")
-        set(C_FLAGS   -Wunreachable-code-break -Wunreachable-code-return)
-        set(CXX_FLAGS -Wunreachable-code-break -Wunreachable-code-return -Wmissing-prototypes -Wextra-semi)
-
-        if (
-            (CCID STREQUAL "Clang"      AND CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.8.0) OR
-            (CCID STREQUAL "AppleClang" AND CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 7.3.0)
-        )
-            list(APPEND C_FLAGS -Wdouble-promotion)
-        endif()
-    elseif (CCID STREQUAL "GNU")
-        set(C_FLAGS   -Wdouble-promotion)
-        set(CXX_FLAGS -Wno-array-bounds)
-
-        if (CCVER VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 8.1.0)
-            list(APPEND CXX_FLAGS -Wextra-semi)
-        endif()
-    endif()
-
-    set(GF_C_FLAGS   ${C_FLAGS}   PARENT_SCOPE)
-    set(GF_CXX_FLAGS ${CXX_FLAGS} PARENT_SCOPE)
-endfunction()
-
 if (GGML_FATAL_WARNINGS)
     if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU" OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
         list(APPEND C_FLAGS   -Werror)