diff --git a/cmake/DD4hep_XML_setup.cmake b/cmake/DD4hep_XML_setup.cmake
index 597e4ddba08ee92af5796088eee94e51d53d0159..e59b7df30d143c72d89c45859d63dbe77038f2be 100644
--- a/cmake/DD4hep_XML_setup.cmake
+++ b/cmake/DD4hep_XML_setup.cmake
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 if(DD4HEP_USE_XERCESC)
   add_definitions(-DDD4HEP_USE_XERCESC)
-  include_directories(${XERCESC_INCLUDE_DIR})
+  include_directories(SYSTEM ${XERCESC_INCLUDE_DIRS})
   set(XML_LIBRARIES ${XERCESC_LIBRARIES})
 else()
   add_definitions(-DDD4HEP_USE_TINYXML)