diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 564598d2947686fe6ca5c9f542b539e694047d10..13e4a378fd6b924c25ed3e36ad501f60b5c11fe7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14)
 project(exple_cmake_build CXX)
 
-option(DOWNLOAD_DEPS ON)
+option(DOWNLOAD_DEPS "Enable automatic download of dependencies" ON)
 
 # download dependency 'explelibx_common' or find it locally
 if (DOWNLOAD_DEPS)