diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index aeb55bb063..adec83256f 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -389,10 +389,6 @@ if(IFCXML_SUPPORT)
 endif()
 
 if(BUILD_IFCGEOM)
-    if(MSVC AND NOT LibXml2_DIR)
-        add_debug_variants(LIBXML2_LIBRARIES "${LIBXML2_LIBRARIES}" d)
-    endif()
-
     # Open CASCADE
     if(WITH_OPENCASCADE)
         find_package(OpenCASCADE REQUIRED)
diff --git a/cmake/FindLibXml2.cmake b/cmake/FindLibXml2.cmake
index 62148c02ac..e0ee4975e5 100644
--- a/cmake/FindLibXml2.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindLibXml2.cmake
@@ -38,5 +38,9 @@ else()
     find_package(LibXml2 REQUIRED)
 endif()
 
+if(MSVC AND NOT LibXml2_DIR)
+    add_debug_variants(LIBXML2_LIBRARIES "${LIBXML2_LIBRARIES}" d)
+endif()
+
 # Restore module path.
 list(PREPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})