diff --git a/paddle/fluid/memory/CMakeLists.txt b/paddle/fluid/memory/CMakeLists.txt
index e7268077643c3988c59a52bf54873f1e8db4619b..0e9f7042ac07e4d1e12b640905041eb71c9497cc 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/memory/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/paddle/fluid/memory/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# make the external project built first
+set(PADDLE_MEMORY_BUILD_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/memory/build")
+add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${PADDLE_MEMORY_BUILD_DIR}/.timestamp
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E touch ${PADDLE_MEMORY_BUILD_DIR}/.timestamp
+        DEPENDS ${external_project_dependencies})
+
 add_subdirectory(detail)
 add_subdirectory(allocation)
 cc_library(malloc SRCS malloc.cc DEPS place enforce allocator_facade)