diff --git a/build_files/build_environment/cmake/options.cmake b/build_files/build_environment/cmake/options.cmake
index af9f8b6271d..950209f545a 100644
--- a/build_files/build_environment/cmake/options.cmake
+++ b/build_files/build_environment/cmake/options.cmake
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ if(WIN32)
   option(ENABLE_MINGW64 "Enable building of ffmpeg/iconv/libsndfile/lapack/fftw3 by installing mingw64" ON)
 endif()
 option(WITH_WEBP "Enable building of oiio with webp support" OFF)
-option(WITH_EMBREE "Enable building of Embree" OFF)
+option(WITH_EMBREE "Enable building of Embree" ON)
 set(MAKE_THREADS 1 CACHE STRING "Number of threads to run make with")
 
 if(NOT BUILD_MODE)