diff --git a/ext/CMakeLists.txt b/ext/CMakeLists.txt
index 337813dc..a353ee20 100644
--- a/ext/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ext/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -200,13 +200,7 @@ if (MTS_ENABLE_GUI)
 endif()
 
 # Build the pugixml parser
-add_library(pugixml SHARED pugixml/src/pugixml.cpp)
-set_property(TARGET pugixml PROPERTY
-  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/pugixml")
-set_property(TARGET pugixml PROPERTY FOLDER "dependencies")
-set(PUGIXML_INCLUDE_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/pugixml/src PARENT_SCOPE)
-set_property(SOURCE pugixml/src/pugixml.cpp
-  APPEND PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS PUGIXML_BUILD_DLL)
+find_package(pugixml CONFIG)
 
 # Build ZeroMQ
 # set(WITH_SODIUM OFF CACHE BOOL " " FORCE)
diff --git a/src/libcore/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libcore/CMakeLists.txt
index b8b2d88c..d04a4e04 100644
--- a/src/libcore/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libcore/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -89,8 +89,7 @@ target_link_libraries(mitsuba-core PRIVATE
 #
 if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
   target_link_libraries(mitsuba-core PUBLIC
-    -Wl,-rpath-link=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:tbb>
-    -Wl,-rpath-link=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:pugixml>)
+    -Wl,-rpath-link=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:tbb>)
 endif()
 
 if (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "x86_64|AMD64")
@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ if (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "x86_64|AMD64")
 endif()
 
 # Copy to 'dist' directory
-add_dist(mitsuba-core pugixml IlmThread Half Half Imath IlmImf Iex tbb)
+add_dist(mitsuba-core IlmThread Half Half Imath IlmImf Iex tbb)
 
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "^(GNU)$")
   target_link_libraries(mitsuba-core PRIVATE -Wl,--no-undefined)