diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4b0682c4fe991a5656e02d6a1845f7d73f61d6ff..1bb18bb23ae37ec074fc013de0ae41da5b962264 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,17 +14,18 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
 
-project(paddle CXX C)
-
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 set(PROJ_ROOT ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
 
+include(system)
+
+project(paddle CXX C)
+
 find_package(Sphinx)
 find_package(CUDA QUIET)
 find_package(Git REQUIRED)
 find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
 
-include(system)
 include(simd)
 
 ################################ Configurations #######################################
diff --git a/cmake/system.cmake b/cmake/system.cmake
index 58ac7dcb94d9f1ef3e9639cca0a48fe17796e4c8..8da17744a431a4345c83475744d6872a80f2da57 100644
--- a/cmake/system.cmake
+++ b/cmake/system.cmake
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ ELSE(WIN32)
         SET(MACOS_VERSION ${VERSION})
         SET(HOST_SYSTEM "macosx")
         IF(NOT DEFINED ENV{MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET})
-            SET(CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET ${MACOS_VERSION})
+            # Set cache variable - end user may change this during ccmake or cmake-gui configure.
+            SET(CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET ${MACOS_VERSION} CACHE STRING
+                "Minimum OS X version to target for deployment (at runtime); newer APIs weak linked. Set to empty string for default value.")
         ENDIF()
     ELSE(APPLE)