diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 716256cd56..214d5a4a73 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ project(yuzu)
 option(ENABLE_SDL2 "Enable the SDL2 frontend" ON)
 CMAKE_DEPENDENT_OPTION(YUZU_USE_BUNDLED_SDL2 "Download bundled SDL2 binaries" ON "ENABLE_SDL2;MSVC" OFF)
 # On Linux system SDL2 is likely to be lacking HIDAPI support which have drawbacks but is needed for SDL motion
-option(YUZU_ALLOW_SYSTEM_SDL2 "Try using system SDL2 before fallling back to one from externals" OFF)
+CMAKE_DEPENDENT_OPTION(YUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2 "Compile external SDL2" ON "ENABLE_SDL2;NOT MSVC" OFF)
 
 option(ENABLE_QT "Enable the Qt frontend" ON)
 option(ENABLE_QT_TRANSLATION "Enable translations for the Qt frontend" OFF)
@@ -387,26 +387,20 @@ if (ENABLE_SDL2)
         add_library(SDL2 INTERFACE)
         target_link_libraries(SDL2 INTERFACE "${SDL2_LIBRARY}")
         target_include_directories(SDL2 INTERFACE "${SDL2_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+    elseif (YUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2)
+        message(STATUS "Using SDL2 from externals.")
     else()
-        if (YUZU_ALLOW_SYSTEM_SDL2)
-            find_package(SDL2 2.0.15 QUIET)
+        find_package(SDL2 2.0.15 REQUIRED)
 
-            if (SDL2_FOUND)
-                # Some installations don't set SDL2_LIBRARIES
-                if("${SDL2_LIBRARIES}" STREQUAL "")
-                    message(WARNING "SDL2_LIBRARIES wasn't set, manually setting to SDL2::SDL2")
-                    set(SDL2_LIBRARIES "SDL2::SDL2")
-                endif()
-
-                include_directories(SYSTEM ${SDL2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-                add_library(SDL2 INTERFACE)
-                target_link_libraries(SDL2 INTERFACE "${SDL2_LIBRARIES}")
-            else()
-                message(STATUS "SDL2 2.0.15 or newer not found, falling back to externals.")
-            endif()
-        else()
-            message(STATUS "Using SDL2 from externals.")
+        # Some installations don't set SDL2_LIBRARIES
+        if("${SDL2_LIBRARIES}" STREQUAL "")
+            message(WARNING "SDL2_LIBRARIES wasn't set, manually setting to SDL2::SDL2")
+            set(SDL2_LIBRARIES "SDL2::SDL2")
         endif()
+
+        include_directories(SYSTEM ${SDL2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+        add_library(SDL2 INTERFACE)
+        target_link_libraries(SDL2 INTERFACE "${SDL2_LIBRARIES}")
     endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/externals/CMakeLists.txt b/externals/CMakeLists.txt
index fd427a912d..4b8d35548e 100644
--- a/externals/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/externals/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ if (NOT LIBUSB_FOUND OR YUZU_USE_BUNDLED_LIBUSB)
 endif()
 
 # SDL2
-if (NOT SDL2_FOUND AND ENABLE_SDL2)
+if (YUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2)
     if (NOT WIN32)
         # Yuzu itself needs: Events Joystick Haptic Sensor Timers Audio
         # Yuzu-cmd also needs: Video (depends on Loadso/Dlopen)
diff --git a/src/yuzu_cmd/CMakeLists.txt b/src/yuzu_cmd/CMakeLists.txt
index 4bf25727b0..e55a196494 100644
--- a/src/yuzu_cmd/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/yuzu_cmd/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ target_include_directories(yuzu-cmd PRIVATE ${RESOURCES_DIR})
 
 target_include_directories(yuzu-cmd PRIVATE ../../externals/Vulkan-Headers/include)
 
+if (YUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2)
+    target_compile_definitions(yuzu-cmd PRIVATE -DYUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2)
+    target_include_directories(yuzu-cmd PRIVATE ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/externals/SDL/include)
+endif()
+
 if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     install(TARGETS yuzu-cmd RUNTIME DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin")
 endif()
diff --git a/src/yuzu_cmd/emu_window/emu_window_sdl2_vk.cpp b/src/yuzu_cmd/emu_window/emu_window_sdl2_vk.cpp
index 3401ad4b49..b6049b032e 100644
--- a/src/yuzu_cmd/emu_window/emu_window_sdl2_vk.cpp
+++ b/src/yuzu_cmd/emu_window/emu_window_sdl2_vk.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 #include "video_core/renderer_vulkan/renderer_vulkan.h"
 #include "yuzu_cmd/emu_window/emu_window_sdl2_vk.h"
 
+#ifdef YUZU_USE_EXTERNAL_SDL2
+// Include this before SDL.h to prevent the external from including a dummy
+#define USING_GENERATED_CONFIG_H
+#include <SDL_config.h>
+#endif
+
 // Include these late to avoid polluting everything with Xlib macros
 // Ignore -Wimplicit-fallthrough due to https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/issues/4307
 #ifdef __clang__