diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3a50524f1..3411278ff 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ option(WITH_DESKTOP_INTEGRATION     "Enable desktop integration modules" off)
 option(WITH_QT_THUMBNAILER          "Enable kde5/qt5 thumnailer" off)
 
 option(USE_STATIC_LIBC    "Use static version of C and C++ runtimes" off)
+option(USE_SHARED_CMARK   "Use your installed copy of cmark" off)
 option(USE_SHARED_CURL    "Use your installed copy of curl" off)
 option(USE_SHARED_GIFLIB  "Use your installed copy of giflib" off)
 option(USE_SHARED_JPEGLIB "Use your installed copy of jpeglib" off)
@@ -135,6 +136,7 @@ set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_PROFILE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib")
 set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_PROFILE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib")
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_PROFILE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin")
 
+set(CMARK_DIR           ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/cmark)
 set(CURL_DIR            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/curl)
 set(GIFLIB_DIR          ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/giflib)
 set(LIBJPEG_DIR         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/jpeg)
@@ -295,6 +297,15 @@ if(USE_ALLEG4_BACKEND)
   include_directories(${LOADPNG_INCLUDE_DIR})
 endif()
 
+if(USE_SHARED_CMARK)
+  find_library(CMARK_LIBRARIES NAMES cmark)
+  find_path(CMARK_INCLUDE_DIRS NAMES cmark.h)
+else()
+  add_definitions(-DCMARK_STATIC_DEFINE)
+  set(CMARK_LIBRARIES libcmark_static)
+  include_directories(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/third_party/cmark)
+endif()
+
 if(USE_SHARED_CURL)
   find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
 else()
diff --git a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f0f1644c..3ee4cb65f 100644
--- a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -82,10 +82,6 @@ if(WITH_WEBP_SUPPORT)
   add_definitions(-DASEPRITE_WITH_WEBP_SUPPORT)
 endif()
 
-# cmark include files
-add_definitions(-DCMARK_STATIC_DEFINE)
-include_directories(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/third_party/cmark)
-
 ######################################################################
 # app-lib target
 
@@ -531,7 +527,7 @@ target_link_libraries(app-lib
   she
   ui-lib
   undo
-  libcmark_static
+  ${CMARK_LIBRARIES}
   ${TINYXML_LIBRARY}
   ${JPEG_LIBRARIES}
   ${GIF_LIBRARIES}
diff --git a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
index 2d8d29a3f..f0ed3ada4 100644
--- a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -89,19 +89,21 @@ add_subdirectory(harfbuzz-cmake)
 add_subdirectory(simpleini)
 
 # Add cmark without tests
-set(CMARK_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build cmark tests and enable testing")
-add_subdirectory(cmark)
-set(cmark_headers
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark.h
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark_export.h
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark_version.h)
-foreach(fn ${cmark_headers})
-  get_filename_component(fn_name "${fn}" NAME)
-  add_custom_command(
-    OUTPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name}
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${fn} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name}
-    MAIN_DEPENDENCY ${fn})
-  list(APPEND copy_cmark_headers ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name})
-endforeach()
-add_custom_target(copy_cmark_headers DEPENDS ${copy_cmark_headers})
-add_dependencies(libcmark_static copy_cmark_headers)
+if(NOT USE_SHARED_CMARK)
+  set(CMARK_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build cmark tests and enable testing")
+  add_subdirectory(cmark)
+  set(cmark_headers
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark.h
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark_export.h
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/src/cmark_version.h)
+  foreach(fn ${cmark_headers})
+    get_filename_component(fn_name "${fn}" NAME)
+    add_custom_command(
+      OUTPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name}
+      COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${fn} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name}
+      MAIN_DEPENDENCY ${fn})
+    list(APPEND copy_cmark_headers ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cmark/${fn_name})
+  endforeach()
+  add_custom_target(copy_cmark_headers DEPENDS ${copy_cmark_headers})
+  add_dependencies(libcmark_static copy_cmark_headers)
+endif()