diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7dedd2d5..418048b8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ message(STATUS "CMake version: ${CMAKE_VERSION}")
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.12)
 
+# determine if cppformat is built as sub project (using add_subdirectory)
+# or if it is the master project
+set(MASTER_PROJECT OFF)
+if (CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR)
+  set(MASTER_PROJECT ON)
+endif ()
+
 # Set the default CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE to Release.
 # This should be done before the project command since the latter can set
 # CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE itself (it does so for nmake).
@@ -13,9 +20,9 @@ endif ()
 option(FMT_PEDANTIC "Enable extra warnings and expensive tests." OFF)
 
 # Options that control generation of various targets.
-option(FMT_DOC "Generate the doc target." ON)
-option(FMT_INSTALL "Generate the install target." ON)
-option(FMT_TEST "Generate the test target." ON)
+option(FMT_DOC "Generate the doc target." ${MASTER_PROJECT})
+option(FMT_INSTALL "Generate the install target." ${MASTER_PROJECT})
+option(FMT_TEST "Generate the test target." ${MASTER_PROJECT})
 
 project(FORMAT)
 
@@ -41,7 +48,7 @@ if (CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang"))
   set(PEDANTIC_COMPILE_FLAGS -Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -pedantic)
 endif ()
 
-if (CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "Visual Studio")
+if (MASTER_PROJECT AND CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "Visual Studio")
   # If Microsoft SDK is installed create script run-msbuild.bat that
   # calls SetEnv.cmd to to set up build environment and runs msbuild.
   # It is useful when building Visual Studio projects with the SDK
@@ -81,7 +88,7 @@ if (FMT_TEST)
 endif ()
 
 set(gitignore ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/.gitignore)
-if (EXISTS ${gitignore})
+if (MASTER_PROJECT AND EXISTS ${gitignore})
   # Get the list of ignored files from .gitignore.
   file (STRINGS ${gitignore} lines)
   LIST(REMOVE_ITEM lines /doc/html)
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 96f4fb74..49d76594 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -143,4 +143,14 @@ add_test(find-package-test ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND}
   --build-generator ${CMAKE_GENERATOR}
   --build-makeprogram ${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM}
   --build-options "-Dcppformat_DIR=${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}"
-                  "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
\ No newline at end of file
+                  "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+
+# test if the targets are findable when add_subdirectory is used
+add_test(add_subdirectory-test ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND}
+  -C ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+  --build-and-test
+  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/add_subdirectory-test"
+  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/add_subdirectory-test"
+  --build-generator ${CMAKE_GENERATOR}
+  --build-makeprogram ${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM}
+  --build-options "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
diff --git a/test/add_subdirectory-test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/add_subdirectory-test/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c267842a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/add_subdirectory-test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.12)
+
+project(cppformat-test)
+
+add_subdirectory(../.. cppformat)
+
+add_executable(library-test "main.cpp")
+target_link_libraries(library-test cppformat)
+
+if (TARGET cppformat-header-only)
+  add_executable(header-only-test "main.cpp")
+  target_link_libraries(header-only-test cppformat-header-only)
+endif ()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/add_subdirectory-test/main.cpp b/test/add_subdirectory-test/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8736017b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/add_subdirectory-test/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#include "cppformat/format.h"
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+  for(int i = 0; i < argc; ++i)
+    fmt::print("{}: {}\n", i, argv[i]);
+  return 0;
+}