diff --git a/src/external/embree.cmake b/src/external/embree.cmake
index 38de522f2..84ec42a6e 100644
--- a/src/external/embree.cmake
+++ b/src/external/embree.cmake
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ elseif(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_DLL_EMBREE AND WIN32)
 					${MESHLAB_LIB_INSTALL_DIR})
 		endif()
 	endif()
-elseif(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_EMBREE AND (UNIX AND NOT APPLE))
+elseif(MESHLAB_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_EMBREE AND (UNIX AND NOT APPLE) AND TBB_FOUND)
 	set(EMBREE_SRC_DIR "${MESHLAB_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD_DIR}/embree-3.13.5")
 	set(EMBREE_CHECK "${EMBREE_SRC_DIR}/CMakeLists.txt")
 	set(ISPC_DIR "${MESHLAB_EXTERNAL_DOWNLOAD_DIR}/ispc-v1.18.1-linux")