diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1e0f194fec4..75cc820a4a7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ endif()
 include(nuttx_kconfig)
 nuttx_export_kconfig_by_value(${NUTTX_DEFCONFIG} "CONFIG_APPS_DIR")
 
-if(NOT CONFIG_APPS_DIR)
+if((NOT NUTTX_APPS_DIR) AND (NOT CONFIG_APPS_DIR))
   if(EXISTS "${NUTTX_DIR}/../apps")
     set(NUTTX_APPS_DIR "${NUTTX_DIR}/../apps")
   elseif(EXISTS "${NUTTX_DIR}/../nuttx-apps")