diff --git a/config/cmake/hdf5-config.cmake.in b/config/cmake/hdf5-config.cmake.in
index b0909b9ac01..fa234734951 100644
--- a/config/cmake/hdf5-config.cmake.in
+++ b/config/cmake/hdf5-config.cmake.in
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ if (${HDF5_PACKAGE_NAME}_ENABLE_PARALLEL)
   set (${HDF5_PACKAGE_NAME}_PARALLEL_FILTERED_WRITES @PARALLEL_FILTERED_WRITES@)
   set (${HDF5_PACKAGE_NAME}_LARGE_PARALLEL_IO        @LARGE_PARALLEL_IO@)
 
+  enable_language(C) # for MPI::MPI_C
   find_package(MPI QUIET REQUIRED)
 endif ()