diff --git a/cmake/FindEXTRAE.cmake b/cmake/FindEXTRAE.cmake
index 02042f7..983bc4e 100644
--- a/cmake/FindEXTRAE.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindEXTRAE.cmake
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ find_path(EXTRAE_INCLUDE_DIR extrae_user_events.h)
 # cudapttrace:        CUDA + pthreads
 # cudaptmpitrace:    CUDA + pthreads + MPI (unsupported combination in Gromacs)
 
+if (NOT EXTRAE_LIBRARY AND NOT EXTRAE_LIB_MANUAL)
 set (extraelib "trace")
 
 # libs with MPI support
@@ -90,6 +91,11 @@ elseif (GMX_THREAD_MPI)
 else()
   set (extraelib "seq${extraelib}")
 endif()
+endif()
+
+if (EXTRAE_LIB_MANUAL)
+    set (extraelib "${EXTRAE_LIB_MANUAL}")
+endif()
 
 find_library(EXTRAE_LIBRARY NAMES  ${extraelib})