diff --git a/cmake/FindOpenEXR.cmake b/cmake/FindOpenEXR.cmake
index e70359b75..bd9db9ed0 100644
--- a/cmake/FindOpenEXR.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindOpenEXR.cmake
@@ -130,9 +130,18 @@ foreach (COMPONENT ${_openexr_components})
                   HINTS ${OPENEXR_LIBRARY_DIR} $ENV{OPENEXR_LIBRARY_DIR}
                         ${GENERIC_LIBRARY_PATHS} )
 
-    set(OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY
-      optimized ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_RELEASE}
-      debug ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_DEBUG})
+    if (OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_RELEASE AND OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_DEBUG)
+      set(OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY
+        optimized ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_RELEASE}
+        debug ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_DEBUG})
+    elseif(OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_RELEASE)
+      set(OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY
+        ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_RELEASE})
+    else()
+      set(OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY
+        ${OPENEXR_${UPPERCOMPONENT}_LIBRARY_DEBUG})
+    endif()
+
 endforeach ()
 
 find_package_handle_standard_args (OpenEXR