diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Packages/ML-PACE.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Packages/ML-PACE.cmake
index 8660898138..b30c61b8e4 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Packages/ML-PACE.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Packages/ML-PACE.cmake
@@ -1,50 +1,62 @@
 # PACE library support for ML-PACE package
+find_package(pace QUIET)
 
-# set policy to silence warnings about timestamps of downloaded files. review occasionally if it may be set to NEW
-if(POLICY CMP0135)
-  cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 OLD)
-endif()
-
-set(PACELIB_URL "https://github.com/ICAMS/lammps-user-pace/archive/refs/tags/v.2023.11.25.fix.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for PACE evaluator library sources")
-set(PACELIB_MD5 "b45de9a633f42ed65422567e3ce56f9f" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of PACE evaluator library tarball")
-mark_as_advanced(PACELIB_URL)
-mark_as_advanced(PACELIB_MD5)
-GetFallbackURL(PACELIB_URL PACELIB_FALLBACK)
-
-# LOCAL_ML-PACE points to top-level dir with local lammps-user-pace repo,
-# to make it easier to check local build without going through the public github releases
-if(LOCAL_ML-PACE)
- set(lib-pace "${LOCAL_ML-PACE}")
+if(pace_FOUND)
+    find_package(pace)
+    target_link_libraries(lammps PRIVATE pace::pace)
 else()
-  # download library sources to build folder
-  if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz)
-    file(MD5 ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz DL_MD5)
-  endif()
-  if(NOT "${DL_MD5}" STREQUAL "${PACELIB_MD5}")
-    message(STATUS "Downloading ${PACELIB_URL}")
-    file(DOWNLOAD ${PACELIB_URL} ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz STATUS DL_STATUS SHOW_PROGRESS)
-    file(MD5 ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz DL_MD5)
-    if((NOT DL_STATUS EQUAL 0) OR (NOT "${DL_MD5}" STREQUAL "${PACELIB_MD5}"))
-      message(WARNING "Download from primary URL ${PACELIB_URL} failed\nTrying fallback URL ${PACELIB_FALLBACK}")
-      file(DOWNLOAD ${PACELIB_FALLBACK} ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz EXPECTED_HASH MD5=${PACELIB_MD5} SHOW_PROGRESS)
+    # set policy to silence warnings about timestamps of downloaded files. review occasionally if it may be set to NEW
+    if(POLICY CMP0135)
+      cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 OLD)
     endif()
-  else()
-    message(STATUS "Using already downloaded archive ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz")
-  endif()
+
+    set(PACELIB_URL "https://github.com/ICAMS/lammps-user-pace/archive/refs/tags/v.2023.11.25.fix2.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for PACE evaluator library sources")
+    set(PACELIB_MD5 "a53bd87cfee8b07d9f44bc17aad69c3f" CACHE STRING "MD5 checksum of PACE evaluator library tarball")
+    mark_as_advanced(PACELIB_URL)
+    mark_as_advanced(PACELIB_MD5)
+    GetFallbackURL(PACELIB_URL PACELIB_FALLBACK)
+
+    # LOCAL_ML-PACE points to top-level dir with local lammps-user-pace repo,
+    # to make it easier to check local build without going through the public github releases
+    if(LOCAL_ML-PACE)
+     set(lib-pace "${LOCAL_ML-PACE}")
+    else()
+      # download library sources to build folder
+      if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz)
+        file(MD5 ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz DL_MD5)
+      endif()
+      if(NOT "${DL_MD5}" STREQUAL "${PACELIB_MD5}")
+        message(STATUS "Downloading ${PACELIB_URL}")
+        file(DOWNLOAD ${PACELIB_URL} ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz STATUS DL_STATUS SHOW_PROGRESS)
+        file(MD5 ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz DL_MD5)
+        if((NOT DL_STATUS EQUAL 0) OR (NOT "${DL_MD5}" STREQUAL "${PACELIB_MD5}"))
+          message(WARNING "Download from primary URL ${PACELIB_URL} failed\nTrying fallback URL ${PACELIB_FALLBACK}")
+          file(DOWNLOAD ${PACELIB_FALLBACK} ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz EXPECTED_HASH MD5=${PACELIB_MD5} SHOW_PROGRESS)
+        endif()
+      else()
+        message(STATUS "Using already downloaded archive ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libpace.tar.gz")
+      endif()
 
 
-  # uncompress downloaded sources
-  execute_process(
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove_directory lammps-user-pace*
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E tar xzf libpace.tar.gz
-    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
-  )
-  get_newest_file(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lammps-user-pace-* lib-pace)
-endif()
-
-add_subdirectory(${lib-pace} build-pace)
-set_target_properties(pace PROPERTIES CXX_EXTENSIONS ON OUTPUT_NAME lammps_pace${LAMMPS_MACHINE})
-
-if(CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL "lammps")
-  target_link_libraries(lammps PRIVATE pace)
+      # uncompress downloaded sources
+      execute_process(
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E remove_directory lammps-user-pace*
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E tar xzf libpace.tar.gz
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
+      )
+      get_newest_file(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lammps-user-pace-* lib-pace)
+    endif()
+
+    # some preinstalled yaml-cpp versions don't provide a namespaced target
+    find_package(yaml-cpp QUIET)
+    if(TARGET yaml-cpp AND NOT TARGET yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp)
+      add_library(yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp ALIAS yaml-cpp)
+    endif()
+
+    add_subdirectory(${lib-pace} build-pace)
+    set_target_properties(pace PROPERTIES CXX_EXTENSIONS ON OUTPUT_NAME lammps_pace${LAMMPS_MACHINE})
+
+    if(CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME STREQUAL "lammps")
+      target_link_libraries(lammps PRIVATE pace)
+    endif()
 endif()
diff --git a/lib/pace/Install.py b/lib/pace/Install.py
index fcd9497937..16d5ecc6b4 100644
--- a/lib/pace/Install.py
+++ b/lib/pace/Install.py
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ from install_helpers import fullpath, geturl, checkmd5sum, getfallback
 # settings
 
 thisdir = fullpath('.')
-version ='v.2023.11.25.fix'
+version ='v.2023.11.25.fix2'
 
 # known checksums for different PACE versions. used to validate the download.
 checksums = { \
-    'v.2023.11.25.fix': 'b45de9a633f42ed65422567e3ce56f9f'
+    'v.2023.11.25.fix2': 'a53bd87cfee8b07d9f44bc17aad69c3f'
 }
 
 parser = ArgumentParser(prog='Install.py', description="LAMMPS library build wrapper script")