diff --git a/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake b/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake
index b8dc6a68d..73bd65fd5 100644
--- a/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake
+++ b/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 function(ensure_library_exists libname)
-    unset(__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY CACHE)
-    find_library(__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY ${libname})
-    if(NOT __TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY)
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "\n\n[check-dependencies] ${libname} not found\n\n")
-    else()
-        message(STATUS "[check-dependencies] ${libname} found at ${__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY}")
-    endif()
-    unset(__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY CACHE)
+    get_property(ALL_LINK_DIRS DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} PROPERTY LINK_DIRECTORIES)
+    foreach(CURRENT_LINK_DIR ${ALL_LINK_DIRS})
+        unset(__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY CACHE)
+        find_library(
+            __TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY
+            NAMES ${libname}
+            PATHS ${CURRENT_LINK_DIR})
+        if(NOT __TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY)
+            #message(STATUS "[check-dependencies] ${libname} not found")
+        else()
+            message(STATUS "[check-dependencies] ${libname} found at ${__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY}")
+            return()
+        endif()
+    endforeach()
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "\n\n[check-dependencies] ${libname} not found\n\n")
 endfunction(ensure_library_exists)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4e3229ff3..c69e19b4a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,12 +38,22 @@ link_directories ("${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/plugins")
 
 # custom include/library directories for BSDs
 if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Darwin" OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "FreeBSD" OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "OpenBSD")
-  link_directories ("/usr/local/lib")
-  link_directories ("/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib")
-  link_directories ("/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib")
-  include_directories("/usr/local/include")
-  include_directories("/usr/local/opt/openssl/include")
-  include_directories("/usr/local/opt/ncurses/include")
+  set(BSD_PATH_PREFIX "/usr/local")
+  if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Darwin")
+    execute_process(
+      COMMAND brew config
+      COMMAND grep -i HOMEBREW_PREFIX
+      COMMAND awk "{print $2}"
+      OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
+      OUTPUT_VARIABLE BSD_PATH_PREFIX)
+  endif()
+  message(STATUS "resolved BSD_PATH_PREFIX to: '${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}'")
+  link_directories ("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/lib")
+  link_directories ("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/opt/openssl/lib")
+  link_directories ("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/opt/ncurses/lib")
+  include_directories("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/include")
+  include_directories("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/opt/openssl/include")
+  include_directories("${BSD_PATH_PREFIX}/opt/ncurses/include")
 endif ()
 
 if (${LINK_STATICALLY} MATCHES "true")