diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 924d88086a..8402c4b956 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -146,6 +146,9 @@ if(CCACHE_FOUND)
     endif()
 endif()
 
+# Variable to accumulate swig definitions from various submodules.
+set(SWIG_DEFINES "")
+
 if(MSVC AND MSVC_PARALLEL_BUILD)
     add_definitions("/MP")
 endif()
@@ -275,7 +278,7 @@ endif()
 
 # Find Boost: On win32 the (hardcoded) default is to use static libraries and
 # runtime, when doing running conda-build we pick what conda prepared for us.
-if(WIN32 AND("$ENV{CONDA_BUILD}" STREQUAL ""))
+if(WIN32 AND NOT DEFINED ENV{CONDA_BUILD})
     set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
     set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF)
     set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON)
@@ -445,7 +448,7 @@ else()
     endif()
 endif(MSVC)
 
-include_directories(${INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES} ${OPENCOLLADA_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+include_directories(${OPENCOLLADA_INCLUDE_DIRS}
 	${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${JSON_INCLUDE_DIR} ${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR}
     ${USD_INCLUDE_DIR}
     ${TBB_INCLUDE_DIR}
@@ -675,6 +678,7 @@ set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH "${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH}")
 set(CPACK_GENERATOR "TGZ;DEB")
 set(CPACK_SOURCE_GENERATOR "TGZ")
 
+set(BOOST_DEPS "")
 foreach(COMPONENT IN ITEMS ${BOOST_COMPONENTS})
     string(REPLACE "_" "-" COMP ${COMPONENT})
     set(BOOST_DEPS "${BOOST_DEPS}, libboost-${COMP}-dev")
diff --git a/cmake/FindHDF5.cmake b/cmake/FindHDF5.cmake
index c29c3e6321..ac6bf553c5 100644
--- a/cmake/FindHDF5.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindHDF5.cmake
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ UNIFY_ENVVARS_AND_CACHE(HDF5_LIBRARIES)
 # To avoid cyclic calls to this file
 list(REMOVE_ITEM CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
 
-if("${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR}" STREQUAL "")
+if(NOT HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR)
     message(STATUS "No HDF5 include directory specified")
 else()
     set(HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR "${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR}" CACHE FILEPATH "HDF5 header files")
 endif()
 
-if("${HDF5_LIBRARY_DIR}" STREQUAL "")
+if(NOT HDF5_LIBRARY_DIR)
     message(STATUS "No HDF5 library directory specified")
 else()
     set(HDF5_LIBRARY_DIR "${HDF5_LIBRARY_DIR}" CACHE FILEPATH "HDF5 library files")
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ if(HDF5_LIBRARY_DIR)
     # result of the HDF5 ctest package
     # Find zlib using cmake find_library. How should this be implemented?
     # FIND_LIBRARY(NAMES z libz libz_debug PATHS ... NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
-    if("$ENV{CONDA_BUILD}" STREQUAL "")
+    if(NOT DEFINED ENV{CONDA_BUILD})
         # result of the HDF5 ctest package
         if(WIN32)
             set(zlib_post lib)
diff --git a/src/svgfill/CMakeLists.txt b/src/svgfill/CMakeLists.txt
index 9464980bdf..631deca2b2 100644
--- a/src/svgfill/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/svgfill/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if(NOT IS_ABSOLUTE ${INCLUDEDIR})
 endif()
 message(STATUS "INCLUDEDIR: ${INCLUDEDIR}")
 
-if(WIN32 AND ("$ENV{CONDA_BUILD}" STREQUAL ""))
+if(WIN32 AND NOT DEFINED ENV{CONDA_BUILD})
 	set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
 	set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON)
     if (USE_STATIC_MSVC_RUNTIME)