diff --git a/src/indexer/CMakeLists.txt b/src/indexer/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/src/indexer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/indexer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
-add_executable(katehighlightingindexer katehighlightingindexer.cpp)
-
-if(Qt5XmlPatterns_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(katehighlightingindexer Qt5::XmlPatterns)
+if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING AND KATEHIGHLIGHTINGINDEXER_EXECUTABLE)
+    # cross build, we need the indexer supplied externally
+    add_executable(katehighlightingindexer IMPORTED GLOBAL)
+    set_target_properties(katehighlightingindexer PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${KATEHIGHLIGHTINGINDEXER_EXECUTABLE})
 else()
-  target_link_libraries(katehighlightingindexer Qt5::Core)
+    # host build
+    add_executable(katehighlightingindexer katehighlightingindexer.cpp)
+    if(Qt5XmlPatterns_FOUND)
+        target_link_libraries(katehighlightingindexer Qt5::XmlPatterns)
+    else()
+        target_link_libraries(katehighlightingindexer Qt5::Core)
+    endif()
 endif()