diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 6cb595e89e..49a4b98a1e 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,22 +41,7 @@ string(TOUPPER "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" BTYPE)
 
 # check for files auto-generated by make-based buildsystem
 # this is fast, so check for it all the time
-message(STATUS "Running check for auto-generated files from make-based build system")
-file(GLOB SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/style_*.h)
-file(GLOB SRC_AUTOGEN_PACKAGES ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/packages_*.h)
-list(APPEND SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES ${SRC_AUTOGEN_PACKAGES} ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/lmpinstalledpkgs.h ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/lmpgitversion.h)
-foreach(_SRC ${SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES})
-  get_filename_component(FILENAME "${_SRC}" NAME)
-  if(EXISTS ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR}/${FILENAME})
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "\n########################################################################\n"
-                          "Found header file(s) generated by the make-based build system\n"
-                          "\n"
-                          "Please run\n"
-                          "make -C ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR} purge\n"
-                          "to remove\n"
-                          "########################################################################")
-  endif()
-endforeach()
+check_for_autogen_files(${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR})
 
 ######################################################################
 # compiler tests
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
index ca9d3b72ca..3ea2b3cb7e 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
@@ -45,6 +45,25 @@ function(get_lammps_version version_header variable)
     set(${variable} "${year}${month}${day}" PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction()
 
+function(check_for_autogen_files source_dir)
+    message(STATUS "Running check for auto-generated files from make-based build system")
+    file(GLOB SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES ${source_dir}/style_*.h)
+    file(GLOB SRC_AUTOGEN_PACKAGES ${source_dir}/packages_*.h)
+    list(APPEND SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES ${SRC_AUTOGEN_PACKAGES} ${source_dir}/lmpinstalledpkgs.h ${source_dir}/lmpgitversion.h)
+    foreach(_SRC ${SRC_AUTOGEN_FILES})
+      get_filename_component(FILENAME "${_SRC}" NAME)
+      if(EXISTS ${source_dir}/${FILENAME})
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "\n########################################################################\n"
+                              "Found header file(s) generated by the make-based build system\n"
+                              "\n"
+                              "Please run\n"
+                              "make -C ${source_dir} purge\n"
+                              "to remove\n"
+                              "########################################################################")
+      endif()
+    endforeach()
+endfunction()
+
 macro(pkg_depends PKG1 PKG2)
   if(PKG_${PKG1} AND NOT (PKG_${PKG2} OR BUILD_${PKG2}))
     message(FATAL_ERROR "${PKG1} package needs LAMMPS to be build with ${PKG2}")