diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 13e1d1539f..2da5b64686 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ option(BUILD_MPI "Build MPI version" ${MPI_FOUND})
 if(BUILD_MPI)
   find_package(MPI REQUIRED)
   include_directories(${MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH})
+  add_definitions(-DMPICH_SKIP_MPICXX -DOMPI_SKIP_MPICXX=1)
   list(APPEND LAMMPS_LINK_LIBS ${MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES})
   option(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG "Workaround if your system or MPI version does not recognize 'long long' data types" OFF)
   if(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)