diff --git a/cmake/FindCargo.cmake b/cmake/FindCargo.cmake
--- a/cmake/FindCargo.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindCargo.cmake
@@ -1,10 +1,48 @@
+# Find the cargo executable
+#
+# Defines the following variables
+#  Cargo_FOUND      - True if the cargo executable was found
+#  Cargo_EXECUTABLE - path of the cargo executable
+#  Cargo_VERSION    - version number of cargo
+
+#=============================================================================
+# Copyright 2017 Friedrich W. H. Kossebau <kossebau@kde.org>
+#
+# Distributed under the OSI-approved BSD License (the "License");
+# see accompanying file Copyright.txt for details.
+#
+# This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
+# implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+# See the License for more information.
+#=============================================================================
+
+find_program(Cargo_EXECUTABLE NAMES cargo)
+
+if (Cargo_EXECUTABLE)
+    execute_process(COMMAND "${Cargo_EXECUTABLE}" --version
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE Cargo_VERSION_OUTPUT
+        ERROR_VARIABLE Cargo_VERSION_ERROR
+        RESULT_VARIABLE Cargo_VERSION_RESULT
+    )
+    if(NOT ${Cargo_VERSION_RESULT} EQUAL 0)
+        message(SEND_ERROR "Command \"${Cargo_EXECUTABLE} --version\" failed with output:\n${Cargo_VERSION_ERROR}")
+    else()
+        # TODO: support also nightly
+        string(REGEX MATCH "[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+"
+            Cargo_VERSION "${Cargo_VERSION_OUTPUT}"
+        )
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
-find_program(Cargo_EXECUTABLE cargo)
-execute_process(COMMAND "${Cargo_EXECUTABLE}" --version
-    OUTPUT_VARIABLE Cargo_VERSION_OUTPUT)
-STRING(REGEX MATCH "[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+"
-    Cargo_VERSION "${Cargo_VERSION_OUTPUT}")
 find_package_handle_standard_args(Cargo
     REQUIRED_VARS Cargo_EXECUTABLE
-    VERSION_VAR Cargo_VERSION)
-mark_as_advanced(Cargo_EXECUTABLE)
+    VERSION_VAR Cargo_VERSION
+)
+
+mark_as_advanced(Cargo_EXECUTABLE Cargo_VERSION)
+
+set_package_properties(Cargo PROPERTIES
+    DESCRIPTION "The Rust package manager"
+    URL "https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/"
+)