diff --git a/source/gmx/CMakeLists.txt b/source/gmx/CMakeLists.txt
index c119e4b212..d445479d39 100644
--- a/source/gmx/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/gmx/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ else()
   target_link_libraries(${libgmxname} PUBLIC ${LIB_DEEPMD_CC})
   target_compile_definitions(${libgmxname} PUBLIC "DP_USE_CXX_API")
 endif()
+target_compile_definitions(${libgmxname} PRIVATE "DP_GMX_PLUGIN_INTERNAL")
 target_include_directories(${libgmxname}
                            PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
 target_include_directories(${libgmxname}
diff --git a/source/gmx/include/gmx_plugin.h b/source/gmx/include/gmx_plugin.h
index 51eae8ca7e..430ca2fe0d 100644
--- a/source/gmx/include/gmx_plugin.h
+++ b/source/gmx/include/gmx_plugin.h
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@
 #include "DeepPot.h"
 namespace deepmd_compat = deepmd;
 #else
+#ifdef DP_GMX_PLUGIN_INTERNAL
 #include "deepmd.hpp"
+#else
+#include "deepmd/deepmd.hpp"
+#endif
 namespace deepmd_compat = deepmd::hpp;
 #endif