diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 481ddd0e86..a1a806ce99 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt	
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ check_type_size("int" SIZEOF_INT)
 check_type_size("long" SIZEOF_LONG)
 check_type_size("short" SIZEOF_SHORT)
 
-test_big_endian(HOST_BIG_ENDIAN)
+set(HOST_BIG_ENDIAN OFF)
+if(CMAKE_C_BYTE_ORDER STREQUAL "BIG_ENDIAN")
+    set(HOST_BIG_ENDIAN ON)
+endif()
 
 check_c_compiler_flag(-std=c99 has_c99)