diff --git a/docs/CMakeLists.txt b/docs/CMakeLists.txt
index 25a41388486594e1577e0874d288ba79194d769a..c13b168ce38baeee88368932ed79fa8245562204 100644
--- a/docs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/docs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 ADD_SUBDIRECTORY(user-guide)
-ADD_SUBDIRECTORY(developer-guide)
+
+IF (EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/developer-guide/CMakeLists.txt)
+    ADD_SUBDIRECTORY(developer-guide)
+ENDIF ()
 
 IF (EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tutorial/CMakeLists.txt)
     ADD_SUBDIRECTORY(tutorial)