diff --git a/cmake/Modules/OpenCLLoader.cmake b/cmake/Modules/OpenCLLoader.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0460f686ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/Modules/OpenCLLoader.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+message(STATUS "Downloading and building OpenCL loader library")
+
+if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL Debug)
+  set(OPENCL_LOADER_LIB_POSTFIX d)
+else()
+  set(OPENCL_LOADER_LIB_POSTFIX)
+endif()
+
+include(ExternalProject)
+set(OPENCL_LOADER_URL "https://download.lammps.org/thirdparty/opencl-loader-2020.12.18.tar.gz" CACHE STRING "URL for OpenCL loader tarball")
+mark_as_advanced(OPENCL_LOADER_URL)
+ExternalProject_Add(opencl_loader
+                    URL ${OPENCL_LOADER_URL}
+                    URL_MD5         f1e6a084d4950382588207133965ec89
+                    SOURCE_DIR      "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/opencl_loader-src"
+                    BINARY_DIR      "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/opencl_loader-build"
+                    CMAKE_ARGS      ${CMAKE_REQUEST_PIC} ${CMAKE_EXTRA_OPENCL_LOADER_OPTS}
+                                    -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}
+                                    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<INSTALL_DIR>
+                                    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+                                    -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM}
+                                    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE}
+                    BUILD_BYPRODUCTS <BINARY_DIR>/lib/${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_PREFIXES}OpenCL${OPENCL_LOADER_LIB_POSTFIX}.a
+                    LOG_DOWNLOAD ON
+                    LOG_CONFIGURE ON
+                    LOG_BUILD ON
+                    INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+                    TEST_COMMAND    "")
+
+ExternalProject_Get_Property(opencl_loader SOURCE_DIR)
+set(OPENCL_LOADER_INCLUDE_DIR ${SOURCE_DIR}/inc)
+
+# workaround for CMake 3.10 on ubuntu 18.04
+file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${OPENCL_LOADER_INCLUDE_DIR})
+
+ExternalProject_Get_Property(opencl_loader BINARY_DIR)
+  set(OPENCL_LOADER_LIBRARY_PATH "${BINARY_DIR}/libOpenCL${OPENCL_LOADER_LIB_POSTFIX}.a")
+
+find_package(Threads QUIET)
+if(NOT WIN32)
+  set(OPENCL_LOADER_DEP_LIBS "Threads::Threads;${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}")
+else()
+  set(OPENCL_LOADER_DEP_LIBS "cfgmgr32;runtimeobject")
+endif()
+
+add_library(OpenCL::OpenCL UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+add_dependencies(OpenCL::OpenCL opencl_loader)
+
+set_target_properties(OpenCL::OpenCL PROPERTIES
+  IMPORTED_LOCATION ${OPENCL_LOADER_LIBRARY_PATH}
+  INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES ${OPENCL_LOADER_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${OPENCL_LOADER_DEP_LIBS}")
+
+
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
index 76ad4190cf..1b543eba8c 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
@@ -141,19 +141,10 @@ if(GPU_API STREQUAL "CUDA")
   target_include_directories(nvc_get_devices PRIVATE ${CUDA_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
 elseif(GPU_API STREQUAL "OPENCL")
-  if(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} STREQUAL "Windows")
-    # download and unpack support binaries for compilation of windows binaries.
-    set(LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL "https://download.lammps.org/thirdparty")
-    file(DOWNLOAD "${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/opencl-win-devel.tar.gz" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/opencl-win-devel.tar.gz"
-            EXPECTED_MD5 2c00364888d5671195598b44c2e0d44d)
-    execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E tar xzf opencl-win-devel.tar.gz WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
-    add_library(OpenCL::OpenCL UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-    if(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL "x86")
-      set_target_properties(OpenCL::OpenCL PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/OpenCL/lib_win32/libOpenCL.dll")
-    elseif(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL "x86_64")
-      set_target_properties(OpenCL::OpenCL PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/OpenCL/lib_win64/libOpenCL.dll")
-    endif()
-    set_target_properties(OpenCL::OpenCL PROPERTIES INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/OpenCL/include")
+  option(USE_STATIC_OPENCL_LOADER "Download and include a static OpenCL ICD loader" ON)
+  mark_as_advanced(USE_STATIC_OPENCL_LOADER)
+  if (USE_STATIC_OPENCL_LOADER)
+    include(OpenCLLoader)
   else()
     find_package(OpenCL REQUIRED)
   endif()
@@ -208,6 +199,7 @@ elseif(GPU_API STREQUAL "OPENCL")
   add_executable(ocl_get_devices ${LAMMPS_LIB_SOURCE_DIR}/gpu/geryon/ucl_get_devices.cpp)
   target_compile_definitions(ocl_get_devices PRIVATE -DUCL_OPENCL)
   target_link_libraries(ocl_get_devices PRIVATE OpenCL::OpenCL)
+  add_dependencies(ocl_get_devices OpenCL::OpenCL)
 elseif(GPU_API STREQUAL "HIP")
   if(NOT DEFINED HIP_PATH)
       if(NOT DEFINED ENV{HIP_PATH})