diff --git a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
index 2363937af5..7c71c6dae2 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
@@ -142,84 +142,44 @@ if(BUILD_MPI)
   set(MPI_CXX_SKIP_MPICXX TRUE)
   # We use a non-standard procedure to cross-compile with MPI on Windows
   if((CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows") AND CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
-    # Download and configure MinGW compatible MPICH development files for Windows
-    option(USE_MSMPI "Use Microsoft's MS-MPI SDK instead of MPICH2-1.4.1" OFF)
-    if(USE_MSMPI)
-      message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
+    message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
+    set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+    set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+    mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
+    mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
 
-      include(ExternalProject)
-      if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
-      else()
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
-      endif()
-
-      ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-      file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-      set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
-        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-        INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-      set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
+    include(ExternalProject)
+    if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
+      ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
+        URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
+        URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
+        CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+        BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
     else()
-      # Download and configure custom MPICH files for Windows
-      message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MPICH-1.4.1 for Windows")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "4939fdb59d13182fd5dd65211e469f14" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
-
-      include(ExternalProject)
-      if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-      else()
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-      endif()
-
-      ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-      file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-      set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a"
-        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-        INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-      set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a")
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
     endif()
+
+    ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
+    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+    add_library(MPI::MPI_CXX UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES
+      IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
+      INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
+      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+    add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
+
+    # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
+    set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+    set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+    set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
   else()
-    find_package(MPI REQUIRED COMPONENTS C)
+    find_package(MPI REQUIRED COMPONENTS CXX)
     option(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG "Workaround if your system or MPI version does not recognize 'long long' data types" OFF)
     if(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)
       target_compile_definitions(lammps INTERFACE -DLAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)
     endif()
   endif()
-  target_link_libraries(lammps INTERFACE MPI::MPI_C)
+  target_link_libraries(lammps INTERFACE MPI::MPI_CXX)
 else()
   add_library(mpi_stubs INTERFACE)
   target_include_directories(mpi_stubs INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/STUBS>)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake b/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
index 18a551b1c7..b5e60616ea 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
@@ -1,74 +1,31 @@
-# Download and configure MinGW compatible MPICH development files for Windows
-option(USE_MSMPI "Use Microsoft's MS-MPI SDK instead of MPICH2-1.4.1" OFF)
+# set-up MS-MPI library for Windows with MinGW compatibility
+message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
+set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
+mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
 
-if(USE_MSMPI)
-  message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
-
-  include(ExternalProject)
-  if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-    ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-      URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-      URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-      CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-      BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
-  else()
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
-  endif()
-
-  ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-  add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-  set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-    IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
-    INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-    INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-  add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-  # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-  set(MPI_C_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-  set(MPI_C_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-  set(MPI_C_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
+include(ExternalProject)
+if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
+  ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
+    URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
+    URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+    BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
 else()
-  message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MPICH2-1.4.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win32-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MPICH2 (win32) tarball")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "4939fdb59d13182fd5dd65211e469f14" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-  set(MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5 "a61d153500dce44e21b755ee7257e031" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MPICH2 (win32) tarball")
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL)
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
-  mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5)
-
-  include(ExternalProject)
-  if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-    ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-      URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-      URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-      CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-      BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-  else()
-    ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-      URL     ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL}
-      URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5}
-      CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-      BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-  endif()
-
-  ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-  add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-  set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-    IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a"
-    INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-    INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-  add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-  # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-  set(MPI_C_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-  set(MPI_C_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-  set(MPI_C_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a")
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
 endif()
+
+ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
+file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXXx PROPERTIES
+  IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
+  INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
+  INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
+
+# set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
+set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
diff --git a/examples/plugins/LAMMPSInterfaceCXX.cmake b/examples/plugins/LAMMPSInterfaceCXX.cmake
index cdfcb498fe..207b579c89 100644
--- a/examples/plugins/LAMMPSInterfaceCXX.cmake
+++ b/examples/plugins/LAMMPSInterfaceCXX.cmake
@@ -43,81 +43,38 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 if(BUILD_MPI)
-  # do not include the (obsolete) MPI C++ bindings which makes
-  # for leaner object files and avoids namespace conflicts
-  set(MPI_CXX_SKIP_MPICXX TRUE)
   # We use a non-standard procedure to cross-compile with MPI on Windows
   if((CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows") AND CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
-    # Download and configure MinGW compatible MPICH development files for Windows
-    option(USE_MSMPI "Use Microsoft's MS-MPI SDK instead of MPICH2-1.4.1" OFF)
-    if(USE_MSMPI)
-      message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
+    message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MS-MPI 10.1 for Windows cross-compilation")
+    set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/msmpi-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+    set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "86314daf1bffb809f1fcbefb8a547490" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MS-MPI (win64) tarball")
+    mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
+    mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
 
-      include(ExternalProject)
-      if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
-      else()
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
-      endif()
-
-      ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-      file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-      set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
-        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-        INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-      set(MPI_C_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      set(MPI_C_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      set(MPI_C_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
+    include(ExternalProject)
+    if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
+      ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
+        URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
+        URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
+        CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+        BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmsmpi.a)
     else()
-      # Download and configure custom MPICH files for Windows
-      message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MPICH-1.4.1 for Windows")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5 "4939fdb59d13182fd5dd65211e469f14" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL)
-      mark_as_advanced(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5)
-
-      include(ExternalProject)
-      if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-      else()
-        ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-          URL     ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL}
-          URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5}
-          CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-          BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
-      endif()
-
-      ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
-      file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      add_library(MPI::MPI_C UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-      set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_C PROPERTIES
-        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a"
-        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-        INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_C mpi4win_build)
-
-      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-      set(MPI_C_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-      set(MPI_C_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-      set(MPI_C_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a")
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "Only x86 64-bit builds are supported with MS-MPI")
     endif()
+
+    ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
+    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+    add_library(MPI::MPI_CXX UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES
+      IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a"
+      INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
+      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+    add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
+
+    # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
+    set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+    set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX=1")
+    set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
   else()
     find_package(MPI REQUIRED)
     option(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG "Workaround if your system or MPI version does not recognize 'long long' data types" OFF)
@@ -125,7 +82,7 @@ if(BUILD_MPI)
       target_compile_definitions(lammps INTERFACE -DLAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)
     endif()
   endif()
-  target_link_libraries(lammps INTERFACE MPI::MPI_C)
+  target_link_libraries(lammps INTERFACE MPI::MPI_CXX)
 else()
   target_include_directories(lammps INTERFACE "${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/STUBS")
 endif()