diff --git a/qrenderdoc/CMakeLists.txt b/qrenderdoc/CMakeLists.txt
index c7e9c7a0c..ef1234dd4 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/qrenderdoc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ endif()
 
 set(QMAKE_QT5_COMMAND ${QT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE} CACHE STRING "Command to run to invoke Qt5's qmake. Normally this is qmake, possibly with qtchooser, but might be qmake-qt5")
 set(RENDERDOC_SWIG_PACKAGE https://github.com/baldurk/swig/archive/renderdoc-modified-7.zip CACHE STRING "The location where RenderDoc's swig fork source can be found. By default points to the URL on github but can be pointed to a local file.")
+set(RENDERDOC_PCRE_PACKAGE https://sourceforge.net/projects/pcre/files/pcre/8.45/pcre-8.45.tar.gz CACHE STRING "The location where the pcre library package can be found. By default points to the URL on sourceforge but can be pointed to a local file.")
 
 # Only check qt version if we're building qrenderdoc
 if(ENABLE_QRENDERDOC)
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 include(ExternalProject)
+include(CheckIncludeFile)
 
 # Need bison for swig
 find_package(BISON)
@@ -157,13 +159,37 @@ if(NOT ${CMAKE_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.24")
     cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 NEW)
 endif()
 
+CHECK_INCLUDE_FILE(pcre.h PCRE_HEADER)
+
+set(PCRE_PREFIX_PATH "")
+
+if(PCRE_HEADER)
+    message(STATUS "pcre library is found, using it as-is")
+
+    add_custom_target(local_pcre)
+else()
+    message(STATUS "pcre header is not found! building pcre locally")
+    
+    # fetch pcre if missing
+    ExternalProject_Add(local_pcre
+        # using an URL to a zip directly so we don't clone the history etc
+        URL ${RENDERDOC_PCRE_PACKAGE}
+        BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+        CONFIGURE_COMMAND CC=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CC} CXX=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CXX} CFLAGS=-fPIC CXXFLAGS=-fPIC ${SET_SYSTEM_PATH_COMMAND} ./configure --prefix=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} --disable-shared > /dev/null
+        BUILD_COMMAND ${GENERATOR_MAKE} ${GENERATOR_MAKE_PARAMS} > /dev/null 2>&1
+        INSTALL_COMMAND ${GENERATOR_MAKE} install > /dev/null 2>&1)
+
+    set(PCRE_PREFIX_PATH "--with-pcre-prefix=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
+endif()
+
 # Compile our custom SWIG that will do scoped/strong enum classes
 ExternalProject_Add(custom_swig
     # using an URL to a zip directly so we don't clone the history etc
     URL ${RENDERDOC_SWIG_PACKAGE}
+    DEPENDS local_pcre
     BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
     CONFIGURE_COMMAND ${SET_SYSTEM_PATH_COMMAND} ./autogen.sh > /dev/null 2>&1
-    COMMAND CC=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CC} CXX=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CXX} CFLAGS=-fPIC CXXFLAGS=-fPIC ${SET_SYSTEM_PATH_COMMAND} ./configure --with-pcre=yes --prefix=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} > /dev/null
+    COMMAND CC=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CC} CXX=${SWIG_CONFIGURE_CXX} CFLAGS=-fPIC CXXFLAGS=-fPIC ${SET_SYSTEM_PATH_COMMAND} ./configure --with-pcre=yes ${PCRE_PREFIX_PATH} --prefix=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} > /dev/null
     BUILD_COMMAND ${GENERATOR_MAKE} ${GENERATOR_MAKE_PARAMS} > /dev/null 2>&1
     INSTALL_COMMAND ${GENERATOR_MAKE} install > /dev/null 2>&1)