diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ac95fdc..6218880 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ if (USE_MFEM)
     find_path(PARMETIS_INCLUDES metis.h
         "$ENV{PARMETIS_DIR}/metis/include"
         "${LIBROM_DIR}/dependencies/parmetis-4.0.3/metis/include")
+    set(PYLIBROM_HAS_MFEM 1)
 endif()
 #===================== pylibROM =============================
 
@@ -112,6 +113,9 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 
 find_package(MPI REQUIRED)
 
+configure_file(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM_config.h.in
+               ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM_config.h)
+
 set(SOURCE_DIR "bindings/pylibROM")
 include_directories(
 	${SOURCE_DIR} 
@@ -122,22 +126,6 @@ include_directories(
 )
 link_libraries(${HDF5_LIBRARIES})
 
-if (USE_MFEM)
-    target_include_directories(
-        _pylibROM
-        ${MFEM_INCLUDES}
-        ${HYPRE_INCLUDES}
-        ${PARMETIS_INCLUDES}
-        ${MFEM_C_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-
-    target_link_libraries(
-        _pylibROM
-        ${MFEM}
-        ${HYPRE}
-        ${PARMETIS}
-        ${METIS})
-endif()
-
 add_subdirectory("extern/pybind11")
 
 set(PYLIBROM_SOURCES
@@ -188,4 +176,22 @@ endif()
 pybind11_add_module(_pylibROM ${PYLIBROM_SOURCES})
 message("building pylibROM...")
 
+if (USE_MFEM)
+    target_include_directories(
+        _pylibROM
+        PUBLIC
+        ${MFEM_INCLUDES}
+        ${HYPRE_INCLUDES}
+        ${PARMETIS_INCLUDES}
+        ${MFEM_C_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+
+    target_link_libraries(
+        _pylibROM
+        PUBLIC
+        ${MFEM}
+        ${HYPRE}
+        ${PARMETIS}
+        ${METIS})
+endif()
+
 target_link_libraries(_pylibROM PRIVATE ROM)
diff --git a/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM.cpp b/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM.cpp
index 9d07bc9..b41f5c1 100644
--- a/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM.cpp
+++ b/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 #include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 #include "CAROM_config.h"
+#include "pylibROM_config.h"
+
+// check that libROM has MFEM if pylibROM is using MFEM
+#ifdef PYLIBROM_HAS_MFEM
+#ifndef CAROM_HAS_MFEM
+#error "libROM was not compiled with MFEM support"
+#endif
+#endif
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
@@ -44,7 +52,7 @@ void init_Database(pybind11::module_ &m);
 void init_HDFDatabase(pybind11::module_ &m);
 void init_CSVDatabase(pybind11::module_ &m);
 
-#ifdef CAROM_HAS_MFEM
+#ifdef PYLIBROM_HAS_MFEM
 //mfem
 void init_mfem_Utilities(pybind11::module_ &m);
 void init_mfem_PointwiseSnapshot(pybind11::module_ &m);
@@ -91,7 +99,7 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(_pylibROM, m) {
     init_STSampling(hyperreduction);
     init_Utilities(hyperreduction);
 
-#ifdef CAROM_HAS_MFEM
+#ifdef PYLIBROM_HAS_MFEM
     py::module mfem = m.def_submodule("mfem");
     init_mfem_Utilities(mfem);
     init_mfem_PointwiseSnapshot(mfem);
diff --git a/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM_config.h.in b/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM_config.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf1ad19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindings/pylibROM/pylibROM_config.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#ifndef PYLIBROM_CONFIG_H_
+#define PYLIBROM_CONFIG_H_
+
+#cmakedefine PYLIBROM_HAS_MFEM
+
+#endif
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d796d4c..e8d4b3c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ def build_extension(self, ext: CMakeExtension) -> None:
         else:
             print("Using pre-installed libROM library: %s" % librom_dir)
             cmake_args += [f"-DLIBROM_DIR=%s" % librom_dir]
-            if (not use_mfem):
-                cmake_args += ["-DUSE_MFEM=OFF"]
+
+        cmake_args += ["-DUSE_MFEM={:s}".format('ON' if use_mfem else 'OFF')]
 
         # Set Python_EXECUTABLE instead if you use PYBIND11_FINDPYTHON
         # EXAMPLE_VERSION_INFO shows you how to pass a value into the C++ code