diff --git a/examples/COUPLE/simple/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/COUPLE/simple/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..507c033d65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/COUPLE/simple/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
+project(simple CXX)
+
+set(LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY "" CACHE PATH "Path for lammps source")
+if(NOT LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY STREQUAL "" AND EXISTS ${LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY}/cmake/CMakeLists.txt)
+  set(BUILD_LIB ON)
+  execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E create_symlink ${LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY}/src ${LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY}/src/lammps)
+  add_subdirectory(${LAMMPS_SRC_DIRECTORY}/cmake lammps)
+else()
+  find_package(LAMMPS REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
+add_executable(simple simple.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(simple LAMMPS::lammps)