diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 834c2a1af..e6fea0e6d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -69,20 +69,38 @@ set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/Modules/")
 # GCC below 6.0 doesn't support __target__("fpu=neon") attribute, required for compiling ARM Neon code, otherwise compilation fails.
 # Must use -mfpu=neon compiler flag instead, but only do that for processors that support neon, otherwise strip the neon code alltogether,
 # because passing -fmpu=neon is unsafe to processors that don't support neon
-IF(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^arm" AND CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Linux")
-	IF(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 6.0)
-		EXEC_PROGRAM(grep ARGS " neon " "/proc/cpuinfo" OUTPUT_VARIABLE neonoutput RETURN_VALUE neonresult)
-		IF(neonresult EQUAL 0)
-			set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE} -mfpu=neon")
-			set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} -mfpu=neon")
-			set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG} -mfpu=neon")
-			set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -mfpu=neon")
-		ELSE(neonresult EQUAL 0)
-			add_definitions(-DZM_STRIP_NEON=1)
-			message(STATUS "ARM Neon is not available on this processor. Neon functions will be absent")
-		ENDIF(neonresult EQUAL 0)
-	ENDIF(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 6.0)
-ENDIF(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^arm" AND CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Linux")
+
+# Arm neon support only tested on Linux. If your arm hardware is running a non-Linux distro and is using gcc then contact us.
+IF (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Linux")
+    string(TOLOWER "${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}" ZM_SYSTEM_PROC)
+    IF((ZM_SYSTEM_PROC STREQUAL "") OR (ZM_SYSTEM_PROC STREQUAL "unknown"))
+        execute_process(COMMAND uname -m OUTPUT_VARIABLE ZM_SYSTEM_PROC ERROR_VARIABLE ZM_SYSTEM_PROC_ERR)
+
+        # maybe make the following error checks fatal
+        IF(ZM_SYSTEM_PROC_ERR)
+            message(WARNING "\nAn error occurred while attempting to determine the system processor:\n${ZM_SYSTEM_PROC_ERR}")
+        ENDIF(ZM_SYSTEM_PROC_ERR)
+        IF(NOT ZM_SYSTEM_PROC)
+           message(WARNING "\nUnable to determine the system processor. This may cause a build failure.\n")
+        ENDIF(ZM_SYSTEM_PROC)
+
+    ENDIF((ZM_SYSTEM_PROC STREQUAL "") OR (ZM_SYSTEM_PROC STREQUAL "unknown"))
+
+    IF(ZM_SYSTEM_PROC MATCHES "^arm")
+	    IF(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 6.0)
+                EXEC_PROGRAM(grep ARGS " neon " "/proc/cpuinfo" OUTPUT_VARIABLE neonoutput RETURN_VALUE neonresult)
+		    IF(neonresult EQUAL 0)
+                        set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE} -mfpu=neon")
+                        set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} -mfpu=neon")
+                        set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG} -mfpu=neon")
+                        set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -mfpu=neon")
+		    ELSE(neonresult EQUAL 0)
+                        add_definitions(-DZM_STRIP_NEON=1)
+                        message(STATUS "ARM Neon is not available on this processor. Neon functions will be absent")
+                    ENDIF(neonresult EQUAL 0)
+            ENDIF(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 6.0)
+    ENDIF(ZM_SYSTEM_PROC MATCHES "^arm")
+ENDIF (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Linux")
 
 # Modules that we need:
 include (GNUInstallDirs)