diff --git a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
index 95bb707e86..e20ae5f5cb 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSInterfacePlugin.cmake
@@ -112,45 +112,76 @@ 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 custom MPICH files for Windows
-    message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MPICH-1.4.1 for Windows")
-    set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win64-devel.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for MPICH2 (win64) tarball")
-    set(MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL "${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)
+    # 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)
 
-    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)
+      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_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")
+      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
+
+      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
+      set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+      set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
+      set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmsmpi.a")
     else()
-      ExternalProject_Add(mpi4win_build
-        URL     ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL}
-        URL_MD5 ${MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_MD5}
-        CONFIGURE_COMMAND "" BUILD_COMMAND "" INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-        BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <SOURCE_DIR>/lib/libmpi.a)
+      # Download and configure custom MPICH files for Windows
+      message(STATUS "Downloading and configuring MPICH-1.4.1 for Windows")
+      set(MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL "${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_CXX UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+      set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES
+        IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a"
+        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
+        INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
+      add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
+
+      # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
+      set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+      set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
+      set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a")
     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/libmpi.a"
-      INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-      INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-    add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
-
-    # set variables for status reporting at the end of CMake run
-    set(MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_PATH "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-    set(MPI_CXX_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-    set(MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.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)