diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cbde769d3f..bbeb92ca4c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -102,11 +102,14 @@ include("${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vcpkg.cmake")
 if (HIFI_ANDROID)
   set(QT_CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "$ENV{HIFI_ANDROID_PRECOMPILED}/qt/lib/cmake")
 else()
-  if (NOT DEFINED ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT})
-    if(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qt.cmake")
+  if ("$ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT}" STREQUAL "")
+     if(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qt.cmake")
         message(FATAL_ERROR "qt configuration missing.")
     endif()
     include("${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qt.cmake")
+    message(STATUS "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/qt.cmake included!")
+  else()
+    message(STATUS "System Qt in use, not including qt.cmake!")
   endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -293,7 +296,7 @@ set_packaging_parameters()
 # Locate the required Qt build on the filesystem
 setup_qt()
 
-if (NOT DEFINED ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT})
+if ("$ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT}" STREQUAL "")
   list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "${QT_CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}")
 endif()
 
diff --git a/hifi_qt.py b/hifi_qt.py
index e5f54ea545..530aaff8ec 100644
--- a/hifi_qt.py
+++ b/hifi_qt.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ endif()
         system_qt = False
 
         # Here we handle the 3 possible cases of dealing with Qt:
-        if os.getenv('VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT'):
+        if os.getenv('VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT', "") != "":
             # 1. Using the system provided Qt. This is only recommended for Qt 5.15.0 and above,
             # as it includes a required fix on Linux.
             #
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ endif()
             system_qt = True
             print("Using system Qt")
 
-        elif os.getenv('VIRCADIA_QT_PATH'):
+        elif os.getenv('VIRCADIA_QT_PATH', "") != "":
             # 2. Using an user-provided directory.
             # VIRCADIA_QT_PATH must point to a directory with a Qt install in it.
 
diff --git a/interface/CMakeLists.txt b/interface/CMakeLists.txt
index 267f996535..f6d84e4e4b 100644
--- a/interface/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/interface/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ else()
   endif()
 endif()
 
-if (NOT DEFINED ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT})
+if ("$ENV{VIRCADIA_USE_SYSTEM_QT}" STREQUAL "")
   if (DEV_BUILD AND (APPLE OR UNIX))
     # create a qt.conf file to override hard-coded search paths in Qt libs
     set(QT_LIB_PATH "${QT_CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}/../..")