diff --git a/unittest/force-styles/CMakeLists.txt b/unittest/force-styles/CMakeLists.txt
index 15db8da050..1cb40038a7 100644
--- a/unittest/force-styles/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/unittest/force-styles/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@ endif()
 set(TEST_INPUT_FOLDER ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tests)
 add_library(style_tests STATIC yaml_writer.cpp error_stats.cpp test_config_reader.cpp test_main.cpp)
 target_compile_definitions(style_tests PRIVATE TEST_INPUT_FOLDER=${TEST_INPUT_FOLDER})
-target_link_libraries(style_tests PUBLIC GTest::GTest GTest::GMock MPI::MPI_CXX Yaml::Yaml)
+target_link_libraries(style_tests PUBLIC GTest::GTest GTest::GMock Yaml::Yaml)
+if(BUILD_MPI)
+  target_link_libraries(style_tests PUBLIC MPI::MPI_CXX)
+else()
+  target_link_libraries(style_tests PUBLIC mpi_stubs)
+endif()
 
 # pair style tester
 add_executable(pair_style pair_style.cpp)