diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d8e51a8cf..e8f3fd922 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -152,6 +152,11 @@ if (VTKm_ENABLE_HDF5_IO)
   find_package(HDF5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS HL)
 endif()
 
+# If the linked HDF5 is parallel, we need to add the MPI include directory
+# for its dependencies
+vtkm_option(VTKm_HDF5_IS_PARALLEL "HDF5 library is parallel" OFF)
+mark_as_advanced(VTKm_HDF5_IS_PARALLEL)
+
 # VTK-m will turn on logging by default, but will set the default
 # logging level to WARN.  This option should not be visible by default
 # in the GUI, as ERROR and WARN level logging should not interfere
diff --git a/examples/contour_tree_distributed/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/contour_tree_distributed/CMakeLists.txt
index ac605eeed..39079abca 100644
--- a/examples/contour_tree_distributed/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/contour_tree_distributed/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ if (VTKm_ENABLE_MPI AND TARGET vtkm::filter_scalar_topology AND TARGET vtkm::io)
   vtkm_add_target_information(ContourTree_Distributed
                               MODIFY_CUDA_FLAGS
                               DEVICE_SOURCES ContourTreeApp.cxx)
-  target_compile_definitions(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE "WITH_MPI")
 
   option (VTKM_EXAMPLE_CONTOURTREE_ENABLE_DEBUG_PRINT Off)
   mark_as_advanced(VTKM_EXAMPLE_CONTOURTREE_ENABLE_DEBUG_PRINT)
@@ -77,18 +76,22 @@ if (VTKm_ENABLE_MPI AND TARGET vtkm::filter_scalar_topology AND TARGET vtkm::io)
     target_compile_definitions(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE "ENABLE_SET_NUM_THREADS")
   endif()
   if (VTKm_ENABLE_HDF5_IO)
-    target_compile_definitions(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE "ENABLE_HDFIO")
-    target_include_directories(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE ${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR})
-    target_link_libraries(ContourTree_Distributed ${HDF5_LIBRARIES})
+    if(VTKm_HDF5_IS_PARALLEL)
+      target_compile_definitions(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE "ENABLE_HDFIO")
+      target_include_directories(ContourTree_Distributed PRIVATE ${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR})
+      target_link_libraries(ContourTree_Distributed ${HDF5_LIBRARIES})
+    else()
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "Compiling distributed contour tree example with HDF5 support requires using a parallel HDF5 library and enabling VTKm_HDF5_IS_PARALLEL")
+    endif()
   endif ()
 
   add_executable(TreeCompiler TreeCompilerApp.cxx)
   target_link_libraries(TreeCompiler vtkm::filter_core)
-  vtkm_add_target_information(TreeCompiler DROP_UNUSED_SYMBOLS)
+  vtkm_add_target_information(TreeCompiler DROP_UNUSED_SYMBOLS MODIFY_CUDA_FLAGS DEVICE_SOURCES TreeCompilerApp.cxx)
 
   add_executable(BranchCompiler BranchCompilerApp.cxx)
   target_link_libraries(BranchCompiler vtkm::filter_scalar_topology)
-  vtkm_add_target_information(BranchCompiler DROP_UNUSED_SYMBOLS)
+  vtkm_add_target_information(BranchCompiler DROP_UNUSED_SYMBOLS MODIFY_CUDA_FLAGS DEVICE_SOURCES BranchCompilerApp.cxx)
 
   configure_file(split_data_2d.py split_data_2d.py COPYONLY)
   configure_file(split_data_3d.py split_data_3d.py COPYONLY)
diff --git a/examples/contour_tree_distributed/ContourTreeApp.cxx b/examples/contour_tree_distributed/ContourTreeApp.cxx
index 293ce2dbb..cb73dcf14 100644
--- a/examples/contour_tree_distributed/ContourTreeApp.cxx
+++ b/examples/contour_tree_distributed/ContourTreeApp.cxx
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ VTKM_THIRDPARTY_POST_INCLUDE
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
-using ValueType = vtkm::Float32;
+using ValueType = vtkm::Float64;
 
 #define SINGLE_FILE_STDOUT_STDERR
 
diff --git a/vtkm/io/CMakeLists.txt b/vtkm/io/CMakeLists.txt
index 3aab645a5..7506ae684 100644
--- a/vtkm/io/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/vtkm/io/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ vtkm_library(
 if (VTKm_ENABLE_HDF5_IO)
   target_include_directories(vtkm_io PRIVATE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIR}>)
   target_link_libraries(vtkm_io PRIVATE ${HDF5_HL_LIBRARIES} ${HDF5_LIBRARIES})
+  if (VTKm_HDF5_IS_PARALLEL)
+    target_link_libraries(vtkm_io PRIVATE MPI::MPI_CXX)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory(internal)