diff --git a/cmake/external/openblas.cmake b/cmake/external/openblas.cmake
index 42ffd6cf347ea54ce059519770629761ae0256ee..79e89eb7cfe67bf6601688944b42f07b7154532e 100644
--- a/cmake/external/openblas.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/openblas.cmake
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${CBLAS_INC_DIR})
 # linear algebra libraries for cc_library(xxx SRCS xxx.c DEPS cblas)
 SET(dummyfile ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cblas_dummy.c)
 FILE(WRITE ${dummyfile} "const char * dummy = \"${dummyfile}\";")
-IF(${CBLAS_PROVIDER} EQUAL MKLML)
+IF("${CBLAS_PROVIDER}" STREQUAL "MKLML")
     ADD_LIBRARY(cblas SHARED ${dummyfile})
 ELSE()
     ADD_LIBRARY(cblas STATIC ${dummyfile})