diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index de7dbc654..e2a1ea15c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -109,6 +109,23 @@ add_subdirectory(src/plugins/stockencoders)
 add_subdirectory(src/plugins/supereqdsp)
 add_subdirectory(src/plugins/gmedecoder)
 
+# ideally this section would exist in the taglib plugin itself, but that doesn't seem to
+# work properly in older versions of CMake (specifically, the one that ships on Ubuntu
+# 18.04)
+if (${USE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB} MATCHES "true")
+  include(ExternalProject)
+
+  ExternalProject_Add(taglib
+    SOURCE_DIR "${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11"
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 0
+    DOWNLOAD_COMMAND ""
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+    CMAKE_ARGS "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/"
+    INSTALL_COMMAND make install)
+
+  add_dependencies(taglibreader taglib)
+endif()
+
 find_library(LIBOPENMPT NAMES openmpt)
 if ("${LIBOPENMPT}" STREQUAL "LIBOPENMPT-NOTFOUND")
   message(STATUS "[libopenmpt] *not* found! plugin will not be built.")
diff --git a/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
index 032268896..87dd1913b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,20 +16,7 @@ add_library(taglibreader SHARED ${taglibreader_SOURCES})
 message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using bundled taglib = ${USE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB}")
 
 if (${USE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB} MATCHES "true")
-  if (${USE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB} MATCHES "true")
-    include(ExternalProject)
-
-    ExternalProject_Add(taglib
-      SOURCE_DIR "${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11"
-      BUILD_IN_SOURCE 0
-      DOWNLOAD_COMMAND ""
-      UPDATE_COMMAND ""
-      CMAKE_ARGS "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/"
-      INSTALL_COMMAND make install)
-
-    include_directories("${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/include")
-  endif()
-  add_dependencies(taglibreader taglib)
+  include_directories("${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/include")
   target_link_libraries(taglibreader ${BOOST_LINK_LIBS} "${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/lib/libtag.a" z)
   message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using ${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/lib/libtag.a")
 else()