diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0a14cd7b98e..48a07df7f14 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ option(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_KAFKA        "Prefer the libkafka system library"
 option(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_LUAJIT       "Prefer the libluajit system library"       ${FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBS})
 option(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_MSGPACK      "Prefer the libmsgpack system library"      ${FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBS})
 option(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_NGHTTP2      "Prefer the libnghttp2 system library"      ${FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBS})
+option(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_SQLITE       "Prefer the libsqlite3 system library"      ${FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBS})
 
 # Enable all features
 if(FLB_ALL)
@@ -689,8 +690,17 @@ if (FLB_SIGNV4)
 endif()
 
 if(FLB_SQLDB)
+  if(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_SQLITE)
+    find_package(PkgConfig)
+    pkg_check_modules(SQLITE sqlite3>=3.0.0)
+  endif()
+  if(SQLITE_FOUND)
+    include_directories(${SQLITE_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    link_directories(${SQLITE_LIBRARY_DIRS})
+  else()
+    include(cmake/sqlite.cmake)
+  endif()
   FLB_DEFINITION(FLB_HAVE_SQLDB)
-  add_subdirectory(${FLB_PATH_LIB_SQLITE})
 endif()
 
 if(FLB_TRACE)
diff --git a/cmake/headers.cmake b/cmake/headers.cmake
index 93a92db2f6e..bd74463a5b7 100755
--- a/cmake/headers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/headers.cmake
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ include_directories(
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_MONKEY}/include
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_MONKEY}/include/monkey
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_MBEDTLS}/include
-  ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_SQLITE}
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_MPACK}/src
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_MINIZ}/
   ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_ONIGMO}
diff --git a/cmake/sqlite.cmake b/cmake/sqlite.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..76585168d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/sqlite.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# sqlite cmake
+include_directories(
+  ${FLB_PATH_ROOT_SOURCE}/${FLB_PATH_LIB_SQLITE}
+)
+add_subdirectory(${FLB_PATH_LIB_SQLITE})
+set(SQLITE_LIBRARIES "sqlite3")
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d9e2dba9333..6643fc8c82f 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ if(FLB_SQLDB)
     )
   set(extra_libs
     ${extra_libs}
-    "sqlite3")
+    ${SQLITE_LIBRARIES})
 endif()
 
 if(FLB_STATIC_CONF)