diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index df2cc7c4e..7400cdb5f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1091,7 +1091,9 @@ IF(ENABLE_PARALLEL_TESTS AND USE_PARALLEL)
   IF(USE_NETCDF4)
     SET(TEST_PARALLEL4 ON CACHE BOOL "")
   ENDIF()
-ELSE()
+ENDIF()
+
+IF (ENABLE_PARALLEL_TESTS AND NOT USE_PARALLEL)
   MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "Parallel tests requested, but no parallel HDF5 installation detected.")
 ENDIF()