diff --git a/cmake/thirdparty/SetupCUDA.cmake b/cmake/thirdparty/SetupCUDA.cmake
index 199e7a5d6..0457704b4 100644
--- a/cmake/thirdparty/SetupCUDA.cmake
+++ b/cmake/thirdparty/SetupCUDA.cmake
@@ -45,8 +45,19 @@
 ################################
 set (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${BLT_ROOT_DIR}/cmake/thirdparty;${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH}")
 
+
+if ( NOT CMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER )
+    if ( CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER )
+        set ( CMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
+    else ()
+        set ( CMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER ${CMAKE_C_COMPILER} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    endif ()
+endif ()
+
+
 enable_language(CUDA)
 
+
 ############################################################
 # Map Legacy FindCUDA variables to native cmake variables
 ############################################################