diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 88b41903..f1390049 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -134,10 +134,11 @@ if (USE_TLS)
     elseif (USE_SECURE_TRANSPORT)
         list( APPEND IXWEBSOCKET_HEADERS ixwebsocket/IXSocketAppleSSL.h)
         list( APPEND IXWEBSOCKET_SOURCES ixwebsocket/IXSocketAppleSSL.cpp)
-    else()
-        set(USE_OPEN_SSL ON)
+    else (USE_OPEN_SSL)
         list( APPEND IXWEBSOCKET_HEADERS ixwebsocket/IXSocketOpenSSL.h)
         list( APPEND IXWEBSOCKET_SOURCES ixwebsocket/IXSocketOpenSSL.cpp)
+    else()
+        message(STATUS "TLS Configuration error: unknown backend")
     endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -154,11 +155,53 @@ if (USE_TLS)
         target_compile_definitions(ixwebsocket PUBLIC IXWEBSOCKET_USE_OPEN_SSL)
     elseif (USE_SECURE_TRANSPORT)
         target_compile_definitions(ixwebsocket PUBLIC IXWEBSOCKET_USE_SECURE_TRANSPORT)
+    else()
+        message(STATUS "TLS Configuration error: unknown backend")
     endif()
 endif()
 
-if (APPLE AND USE_TLS AND NOT USE_MBED_TLS AND NOT USE_OPEN_SSL)
-  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket "-framework foundation" "-framework security")
+if (USE_TLS)
+  if (USE_OPEN_SSL)
+    message(STATUS "TLS configured to use openssl")
+
+    # Help finding Homebrew's OpenSSL on macOS
+    if (APPLE)
+      set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH} /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib)
+      set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH ${CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH} /usr/local/opt/openssl/include)
+    endif()
+
+    # This OPENSSL_FOUND check is to help find a cmake manually configured OpenSSL
+    if (NOT OPENSSL_FOUND)
+      find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
+    endif()
+    message(STATUS "OpenSSL: " ${OPENSSL_VERSION})
+
+    target_compile_definitions(ixwebsocket PUBLIC ${OPENSSL_DEFINITIONS})
+    target_include_directories(${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
+    target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
+  elseif (USE_MBED_TLS)
+    message(STATUS "TLS configured to use mbedtls")
+
+    find_package(MbedTLS REQUIRED)
+    target_include_directories(ixwebsocket PUBLIC ${MBEDTLS_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${MBEDTLS_LIBRARIES})
+  elseif (USE_SECURE_TRANSPORT)
+    message(STATUS "TLS configured to use secure transport")
+    target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket "-framework foundation" "-framework security")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+# This ZLIB_FOUND check is to help find a cmake manually configured zlib
+if (NOT ZLIB_FOUND)
+  find_package(ZLIB)
+endif()
+if (ZLIB_FOUND)
+  include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+else()
+  include_directories(third_party/zlib ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/third_party/zlib)
+  add_subdirectory(third_party/zlib)
+  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket zlibstatic)
 endif()
 
 if (WIN32)
@@ -175,40 +218,6 @@ if (UNIX)
   target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 endif()
 
-if (USE_TLS AND USE_OPEN_SSL)
-
-  # Help finding Homebrew's OpenSSL on macOS
-  if (APPLE)
-    set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH} /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib)
-    set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH ${CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH} /usr/local/opt/openssl/include)
-  endif()
-
-  if(NOT OPENSSL_FOUND)
-    find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
-  endif()
-  add_definitions(${OPENSSL_DEFINITIONS})
-  message(STATUS "OpenSSL: " ${OPENSSL_VERSION})
-  include_directories(${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
-  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
-endif()
-
-if (USE_TLS AND USE_MBED_TLS)
-  find_package(MbedTLS REQUIRED)
-  target_include_directories(ixwebsocket PUBLIC ${MBEDTLS_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${MBEDTLS_LIBRARIES})
-endif()
-
-if (NOT ZLIB_FOUND)
-  find_package(ZLIB)
-endif()
-if (ZLIB_FOUND)
-  include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
-else()
-  include_directories(third_party/zlib ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/third_party/zlib)
-  add_subdirectory(third_party/zlib)
-  target_link_libraries(ixwebsocket zlibstatic)
-endif()
 
 set( IXWEBSOCKET_INCLUDE_DIRS
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}