diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index aa45e3a..3faf54f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ project(tim-vx LANGUAGES C CXX)
 OPTION(TIM_VX_ENABLE_TEST           "Build the unit test"                   ON)
 OPTION(TIM_VX_ENABLE_LAYOUT_INFER   "Enable layout inference support"       ON)
 OPTION(TIM_VX_CODE_COVERAGE         "Run code coverage with gconv(gcc only" OFF)
+option(TIM_VX_USE_EXTERNAL_OVXLIB   "Use external OVXLIB"                   OFF)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
diff --git a/src/tim/CMakeLists.txt b/src/tim/CMakeLists.txt
index bd14314..6e841c3 100644
--- a/src/tim/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/tim/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,15 @@ message("src/tim/vx")
 
 set(TARGET_NAME "tim-vx")
 
-add_subdirectory("vx/internal")
+if(${TIM_VX_USE_EXTERNAL_OVXLIB})
+    find_library(OVXLIB_LIB NAMES "ovxlib")
+    message(STATUS "Using external OVXLIB from ${OVXLIB_LIB}")
+    add_library(tim_internal SHARED IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(tim_internal PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${OVXLIB_LIB})
+    target_link_libraries(tim_internal INTERFACE ${OVXDRV_LIBRARIES})
+else()
+    add_subdirectory("vx/internal")
+endif()
 
 aux_source_directory(./vx VX_SRC)
 aux_source_directory(./vx/ops OPS_SRC)
@@ -16,7 +24,16 @@ list(APPEND SRC
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/tim/vx)
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tim/vx)
-include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tim/vx/internal/include)
+if(${TIM_VX_USE_EXTERNAL_OVXLIB})
+    if(NOT OVXLIB_INC)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Set OVXLIB_INC if using external OVXLIB (TIM_VX_USE_EXTERNAL_OVXLIB)")
+    endif()
+    set(OVXLIB_INCLUDE_DIR ${OVXLIB_INC})
+else()
+    set(OVXLIB_INCLUDE_DIR "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/tim/vx/internal/include")
+endif()
+message(STATUS "OVXLIB include directory: ${OVXLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+include_directories(${OVXLIB_INCLUDE_DIR})
 
 if(TIM_VX_ENABLE_LAYOUT_INFER)
     include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/)