diff --git a/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qt4.cmake b/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qt4.cmake
index 85b92b28e70076ffb2d336a005a626f9e0f7fa93..40d01772864f74708984ae7266d31b98c8099735 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qt4.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qt4.cmake
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ else()
       )
   endif()
   
+  set(_SB_QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE ${SB_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/qmake)
+
   #copying Qt4 to have out-of-source build takes too much disk space
   # ExternalProject_Add_Step(${proj} copy_source
       # COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory 
diff --git a/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qwt.cmake b/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qwt.cmake
index 745418c2f9f5c1807d000a8d663d9cf9636bec25..b7efee823c53be06f8b7e551d6ceb6ec070f194a 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qwt.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/CMake/External_qwt.cmake
@@ -26,8 +26,15 @@ else()
   configure_file(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/patches/${proj}/qwtconfig.pri 
                  ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qwtconfig.pri
                  @ONLY)
-  # TODO : detect the qmake executable path
-  set(QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE ${SB_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/qmake)
+
+  if(_SB_QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE)
+    set(QWT_SB_CONFIGURE_PROGRAM ${_SB_QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE})
+  elseif(QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE)
+    set(QWT_SB_CONFIGURE_PROGRAM ${QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE})
+  else()
+    set(QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE "" CACHE FILEPATH "Path to qmake executable")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Please set the qmake executable to use (QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE)")
+  endif()
   
   ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
     PREFIX ${proj}
@@ -36,11 +43,11 @@ else()
     SOURCE_DIR ${QWT_SB_SRC}
     BINARY_DIR ${QWT_SB_BUILD_DIR}
     INSTALL_DIR ${SB_INSTALL_PREFIX}
-    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${DOWNLOAD_LOCATION}
+    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${DOWNLOAD_LOCATION}
     DEPENDS ${${proj}_DEPENDENCIES}
     PATCH_COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${QWT_SB_SRC} ${QWT_SB_BUILD_DIR}
      COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qwtconfig.pri ${QWT_SB_BUILD_DIR}
-    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ${QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE} ${QWT_SB_BUILD_DIR}/qwt.pro
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ${QWT_SB_CONFIGURE_PROGRAM} ${QWT_SB_BUILD_DIR}/qwt.pro
     BUILD_COMMAND ${QWT_SB_MAKE_PROGRAM}
     INSTALL_COMMAND ${QWT_SB_MAKE_PROGRAM} install
   )