diff --git a/plugins/win-dshow/CMakeLists.txt b/plugins/win-dshow/CMakeLists.txt
index f34e978b2..4a9f6f87e 100644
--- a/plugins/win-dshow/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/plugins/win-dshow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+if(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/libdshowcapture/dshowcapture.hpp")
+	message(STATUS "libdshowcapture submodule not found!  Please fetch submodules.  win-dshow plugin disabled.")
+	return()
+endif()
+
 project(win-dshow)
 
 find_package(FFmpeg REQUIRED COMPONENTS avcodec avutil)