diff --git a/src/external/u3d.cmake b/src/external/u3d.cmake
index fb446a929..cc6d7b152 100644
--- a/src/external/u3d.cmake
+++ b/src/external/u3d.cmake
@@ -5,19 +5,18 @@
 option(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_U3D "Allow download and use of u3d source" ON)
 
 if(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_U3D)
-	# todo - make release of u3d
-	set(U3D_DIR "${MESHLAB_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD_DIR}/u3d-master")
+	set(U3D_DIR "${MESHLAB_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD_DIR}/u3d-1.5.0")
 	set(U3D_CHECK "${U3D_DIR}/CMakeLists.txt")
 
 	if (NOT EXISTS ${U3D_CHECK})
 		set(U3D_LINK
-			https://github.com/alemuntoni/u3d/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
-			https://www.meshlab.net/data/libs/u3d-master.zip)
-		#set(U3D_MD5 3b15b2f75206ea24b8991333562aa9ca)
+			https://github.com/alemuntoni/u3d/archive/refs/tags/1.5.0.zip
+			https://www.meshlab.net/data/libs/u3d-1.5.0.zip)
+		set(U3D_MD5 9f940835cfc08d17169b8003fabec1c6)
 		download_and_unzip(
 			NAME "u3d"
 			LINK ${U3D_LINK}
-			#MD5 ${U3D_MD5}
+			MD5 ${U3D_MD5}
 			DIR ${MESHLAB_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD_DIR})
 		if (NOT download_and_unzip_SUCCESS)
 			message(STATUS "- u3d - download failed.")
@@ -25,17 +24,22 @@ if(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_U3D)
 	endif()
 
 	if (EXISTS ${U3D_CHECK})
-		message(STATUS "- u3d - using bundled source")
+		message(STATUS "- u3d - using downloaded source")
 
+		set(U3D_BUILD_LIBIDTF_TEST OFF)
+		set(U3D_BUILD_IDTF_TO_U3D_BIN OFF)
+		set(U3D_BUILD_STATIC_IDTF_LIB OFF)
 		set(MESSAGE_QUIET ON)
 		add_subdirectory(${U3D_DIR})
 		unset(MESSAGE_QUIET)
+		unset(U3D_BUILD_LIBIDTF_TEST)
+		unset(U3D_BUILD_IDTF_TO_U3D_BIN)
 		install(
 			TARGETS
+				IDTF
 				IFXCore
 				IFXExporting
 				IFXScheduling
-				IDTF-to-U3D-converter
 			DESTINATION
 				${MESHLAB_LIB_INSTALL_DIR})
 	endif()
diff --git a/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/CMakeLists.txt b/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/CMakeLists.txt
index 77d8b98f2..9dbc57717 100644
--- a/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,18 +1,27 @@
 # Copyright 2019-2020, Collabora, Ltd.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSL-1.0
 
-
 # Only build if we have u3d
-if(TARGET IDTF-to-U3D-converter)
+if(TARGET IDTF)
+	# IDTF to U3D converter loads some dll/so files at runtime, thar may be placed in different
+	# places, depending on:
+	# - build or deploy stage
+	# - operative system
+	# The default paths are set for deploy stage (OS is detected automatically).
+	# If you are building (not deploying) MeshLab and you want to test the U3D exporter, enable this
+	# option.
+	# Without enabling this option, the U3D exporter WILL NOT WORK ON BUILD STAGE.
+	option(MESHLAB_U3D_BUILD_MODE "If you need to test u3d exporter in build mode (not deploy), enable this" OFF)
 
 	set(SOURCES io_u3d.cpp)
-
 	set(HEADERS io_u3d.h)
 
 	add_meshlab_plugin(io_u3d ${SOURCES} ${HEADERS})
+	target_link_libraries(io_u3d PUBLIC IDTF)
 
-	target_link_libraries(io_u3d PUBLIC IDTF-to-U3D-converter IFXCoreStatic ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
-
+	if(MESHLAB_U3D_BUILD_MODE)
+		target_compile_definitions(io_u3d PRIVATE BUILD_MODE)
+	endif()
 else()
 	message(STATUS "Skipping io_u3d - missing u3d in external directory.")
 endif()
diff --git a/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/io_u3d.cpp b/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/io_u3d.cpp
index bf9b876ed..bff0358ff 100644
--- a/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/io_u3d.cpp
+++ b/src/meshlabplugins/io_u3d/io_u3d.cpp
@@ -33,11 +33,23 @@
 #include <wrap/io_trimesh/io_mask.h>
 
 #include <QSettings>
-#include "Converter.h"
+#include <IDTF/Converter.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace vcg;
 
+#ifdef BUILD_MODE
+const std::string LIB_IDTF_PATH = "../external/downloads/u3d-1.5.0";
+#else
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+const std::string LIB_IDTF_PATH = "../Frameworks";
+#elif __linux__
+const std::string LIB_IDTF_PATH = "../lib";
+#else
+const std::string LIB_IDTF_PATH = ".";
+#endif
+#endif
+
 
 U3DIOPlugin::U3DIOPlugin() :
 	QObject(), IOPlugin()
@@ -94,7 +106,12 @@ void U3DIOPlugin::save(
 
 		//conversion from idtf to u3d
 		int resCode = 0;
-		bool result = IDTFConverter::IDTFToU3d(tmp.toStdString(), filename, resCode, _param.positionQuality);
+		bool result = IDTFConverter::IDTFToU3d(
+			tmp.toStdString(),
+			filename,
+			resCode,
+			LIB_IDTF_PATH,
+			_param.positionQuality);
 
 		if(result==false) {
 			throw MLException("Error saving " + QString::fromStdString(filename) + ": \n" + vcg::tri::io::ExporterU3D<CMeshO>::ErrorMsg(resCode) + " (" + QString::number(resCode) + ")");