diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2252a5e4b..bf0a26702 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -261,6 +261,13 @@ if(NOT ZM_JWT_BACKEND IN_LIST ZM_JWT_BACKEND_OPTIONS)
   message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid value for ZM_JWT_BACKEND. Possible options: ${ZM_JWT_BACKEND_OPTIONS}")
 endif()
 
+# Option to use system-installed jwt-cpp instead of vendored version
+set(ZM_USE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP "OFF" CACHE BOOL
+  "Set to ON to use system-installed jwt-cpp instead of the vendored version. default: OFF")
+
+if(ZM_USE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP AND NOT (ZM_JWT_BACKEND STREQUAL "jwt_cpp"))
+  message(WARNING "ZM_USE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP is set but will be ignored because ZM_JWT_BACKEND is not jwt_cpp")
+endif()
 if((ZM_TARGET_DISTRO MATCHES "^el") OR (ZM_TARGET_DISTRO MATCHES "^fc"))
   set(ZM_RUNDIR "/run/zoneminder")
   set(ZM_SOCKDIR "/var/lib/zoneminder/sock")
@@ -406,6 +413,24 @@ if (${ZM_JWT_BACKEND} STREQUAL "libjwt")
   endif()
 endif()
 
+# jwt-cpp (system or vendored)
+if (${ZM_JWT_BACKEND} STREQUAL "jwt_cpp")
+  if(ZM_USE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP)
+    find_package(jwt-cpp CONFIG REQUIRED)
+    if(TARGET jwt-cpp::jwt-cpp)
+      set(HAVE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP 1)
+      set(optlibsfound "${optlibsfound} jwt-cpp(system)")
+      message(STATUS "Using system-installed jwt-cpp")
+    else()
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "System jwt-cpp requested but jwt-cpp::jwt-cpp target not found")
+    endif()
+  else()
+    set(HAVE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP 0)
+    set(optlibsfound "${optlibsfound} jwt-cpp(vendored)")
+    message(STATUS "Using vendored jwt-cpp")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 # GnuTLS
 if (${ZM_CRYPTO_BACKEND} STREQUAL "gnutls")
   find_library(GNUTLS_LIBRARIES gnutls REQUIRED)
diff --git a/dep/CMakeLists.txt b/dep/CMakeLists.txt
index 17197c820..e5b2cfaa5 100644
--- a/dep/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dep/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-add_subdirectory(jwt-cpp)
+# Only build vendored jwt-cpp if not using system-installed version
+if(NOT HAVE_SYSTEM_JWT_CPP)
+  add_subdirectory(jwt-cpp)
+endif()
 add_subdirectory(libbcrypt)
 add_subdirectory(RtspServer)
 add_subdirectory(span-lite)