diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3765d8b27aaa..71a6555d203a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON "Build with Hexagon support" OFF)
 tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON_SDK "Path to the Hexagon SDK root (required for Hexagon support)" /path/to/sdk)
 tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON_RPC "Enable Hexagon RPC using minRPC implementation over Android." OFF)
 tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON_GTEST "Path to Hexagon specific gtest version for runtime cpp tests." /path/to/hexagon/gtest)
-tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS "Path to git repo containing external Hexagon runtime sources or libraries" "")
+tvm_option(USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS "Path to git repo containing external Hexagon runtime sources or libraries" OFF)
 tvm_option(USE_RPC "Build with RPC" ON)
 tvm_option(USE_THREADS "Build with thread support" ON)
 tvm_option(USE_LLVM "Build with LLVM, can be set to specific llvm-config path" OFF)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/Hexagon.cmake b/cmake/modules/Hexagon.cmake
index cfc1ab28df13..399623ef1c3e 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/Hexagon.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/Hexagon.cmake
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ if(BUILD_FOR_HEXAGON)
   )
 
   # Include hexagon external library runtime sources
-  if(DEFINED USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS)
+  if(DEFINED USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS AND NOT ${USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS} STREQUAL "")
     # Check if the libs are provided as an absolute path
     if (EXISTS ${USE_HEXAGON_EXTERNAL_LIBS})
     # Check if the libs are provided as a git url