diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index de0df1f4c1..f7bc7b0c4b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -306,7 +306,6 @@ endif()
 
 
 find_package(Qt4 REQUIRED)
-find_package(ICONV REQUIRED)
 find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
 
 include_directories(${TOP_BINARY_DIR} ${TOP_SRC_DIR}/src)
@@ -340,6 +339,8 @@ if(LYX_EXTERNAL_LIBINTL)
 	find_package(Libintl REQUIRED)
 	# find getext when configuring
 	list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES ${LIBINTL_LIBRARIES})
+	# on mac use iconv also form ports
+	get_filename_component(ICONV_RELATIVE_TO_LIBINTL ${LIBINTL_LIBRARIES} PATH)
 else()
 	if(LYX_NLS)
 		add_subdirectory(intl "${TOP_BINARY_DIR}/intl")
@@ -348,6 +349,8 @@ else()
 	endif()
 endif()
 
+find_package(ICONV REQUIRED)
+
 if(LYX_EXTERNAL_BOOST)
 	message(STATUS "Searching for boost")
 	find_package(Boost COMPONENTS signals regex) #TODO could REQUIRED be used
diff --git a/development/cmake/modules/FindICONV.cmake b/development/cmake/modules/FindICONV.cmake
index 3f2e7ce626..d4c166cdb4 100644
--- a/development/cmake/modules/FindICONV.cmake
+++ b/development/cmake/modules/FindICONV.cmake
@@ -38,8 +38,16 @@ find_path(ICONV_INCLUDE_DIR iconv.h
 
 set(POTENTIAL_ICONV_LIBS iconv libiconv libiconv2)
 
+
 find_library(ICONV_LIBRARY NAMES ${POTENTIAL_ICONV_LIBS}
-	PATHS /usr/lib /usr/local/lib)
+	PATHS
+	${ICONV_RELATIVE_TO_LIBINTL}
+	NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+	
+find_library(ICONV_LIBRARY NAMES ${POTENTIAL_ICONV_LIBS}
+	PATHS
+	/usr/lib 
+	/usr/local/lib)
 
 if(WIN32)
 	set(ICONV_DLL_NAMES iconv.dll  libiconv.dll libiconv2.dll)