diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 24eda97aa..a236697c2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ if(USE_AVX)
   add_definitions(-DXGBOOST_USE_AVX)
 endif()
 
+# dmlc-core
+add_subdirectory(dmlc-core)
+set(LINK_LIBRARIES dmlc rabit)
+
 # enable custom logging
 add_definitions(-DDMLC_LOG_CUSTOMIZE=1)
 
@@ -108,12 +112,6 @@ else()
   add_library(rabit STATIC ${RABIT_SOURCES})
 endif()
 
-
-# dmlc-core
-add_subdirectory(dmlc-core)
-set(LINK_LIBRARIES dmlc rabit)
-
-
 if(USE_CUDA)
   find_package(CUDA 8.0 REQUIRED)
   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)