diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 96023a6eb8c505fe200457d8996c52a119328242..4cb27f99e00b4ea0130be5dd4728ce0953cf4769 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -339,6 +339,13 @@ IF(OTB_USE_MAPNIK)
                         "Cannot find MAPNIK include directory. Please set MAPNIK_INCLUDE_DIR or SET OTB_USE_MAPNIK OFF.")
         ENDIF (NOT MAPNIK_INCLUDE_DIR)
 
+        FIND_PATH(FREETYPE2_INCLUDE_DIR freetype/freetype.h PATHS /usr/include/freetype2)
+        MARK_AS_ADVANCED(FREETYPE2_INCLUDE_DIR)
+        IF (NOT FREETYPE2_INCLUDE_DIR)
+                MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR
+                        "Cannot find FREETYPE2 include directory. Please set  or SET OTB_USE_MAPNIK OFF.")
+        ENDIF (NOT FREETYPE2_INCLUDE_DIR)
+
         FIND_LIBRARY(MAPNIK_LIBRARY mapnik )
         MARK_AS_ADVANCED(MAPNIK_LIBRARY)
         IF (NOT MAPNIK_LIBRARY)
diff --git a/otbIncludeDirectories.cmake b/otbIncludeDirectories.cmake
index 32abab858ffcf1dc5f0ae417bcc7a57cc59ef558..f0a1b37a894c065d04d86671e356f226fa749eb4 100644
--- a/otbIncludeDirectories.cmake
+++ b/otbIncludeDirectories.cmake
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ ENDIF(OTB_USE_CURL)
 # Include directories from the MAPNIK build tree.
 IF(OTB_USE_MAPNIK)
   SET(OTB_INCLUDE_DIRS_BUILD_TREE ${OTB_INCLUDE_DIRS_BUILD_TREE}
-  	${MAPNIK_INCLUDE_DIR} )
+  	${MAPNIK_INCLUDE_DIR} ${FREETYPE2_INCLUDE_DIR})
 ENDIF(OTB_USE_MAPNIK)
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------