diff --git a/cmake/external/neural_speed.cmake b/cmake/external/neural_speed.cmake
index dfd59bae46c8b..e00c653dc7f9e 100644
--- a/cmake/external/neural_speed.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/neural_speed.cmake
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ if(USE_NEURAL_SPEED)
   )
   set(BTLA_USE_OPENMP OFF)
   FetchContent_MakeAvailable(neural_speed)
-  if(NOT neural_speed)
+  if(NOT neural_speed_POPULATED)
     FetchContent_Populate(neural_speed)
   endif()
 endif()