diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4fefeb44f2..1560493f71 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ if (${DAWN_ENABLE_DESKTOP_GL} OR ${DAWN_ENABLE_OPENGLES})
     set(DAWN_ENABLE_OPENGL ON)
 endif()
 
+# OpenGL backend requires SPIRV-Cross
+set(DAWN_REQUIRES_SPIRV_CROSS OFF)
+if (DAWN_ENABLE_OPENGL)
+    set(DAWN_REQUIRES_SPIRV_CROSS ON)
+endif()
+
 ################################################################################
 # Dawn's public and internal "configs"
 ################################################################################
diff --git a/src/dawn_native/CMakeLists.txt b/src/dawn_native/CMakeLists.txt
index 8e2b2ce9e5..e651f943c0 100644
--- a/src/dawn_native/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/dawn_native/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -185,13 +185,16 @@ target_link_libraries(dawn_native
             dawn_platform
             dawn_internal_config
             libtint
-            spirv-cross-core
-            spirv-cross-glsl
-            spirv-cross-hlsl
-            spirv-cross-msl
             SPIRV-Tools-opt
 )
 
+if (DAWN_REQUIRES_SPIRV_CROSS)
+    target_link_libraries(dawn_native PRIVATE spirv-cross-core)
+    if (DAWN_ENABLE_OPENGL)
+        target_link_libraries(dawn_native PRIVATE spirv-cross-glsl)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 if (DAWN_USE_X11)
     find_package(X11 REQUIRED)
     target_link_libraries(dawn_native PRIVATE ${X11_LIBRARIES})
diff --git a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
index 94e5d8360e..a5e0a24ce3 100644
--- a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-if (NOT TARGET spirv-cross)
+if (DAWN_REQUIRES_SPIRV_CROSS AND NOT TARGET spirv-cross)
     set(SPIRV_CROSS_EXCEPTIONS_TO_ASSERTIONS ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(SPIRV_CROSS_ENABLE_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(SPIRV_CROSS_SKIP_INSTALL ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)