diff --git a/src/libgcv/plugins/assetimport/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libgcv/plugins/assetimport/CMakeLists.txt
index 4a1f36647e..7b3835a0f4 100644
--- a/src/libgcv/plugins/assetimport/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libgcv/plugins/assetimport/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 set(ASSETIMPORT_SRCS assetimport_read.cpp assetimport_write.cpp)
 
-brlcad_find_package(pugixml)
 brlcad_find_package(assimp)
 
 if(BRLCAD_ENABLE_ASSETIMPORT)
-  if(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+  if(TARGET assimp::assimp)
     gcv_plugin_library(gcv-assetimport SHARED ${ASSETIMPORT_SRCS})
     target_link_libraries(
       gcv-assetimport
@@ -13,7 +12,6 @@ if(BRLCAD_ENABLE_ASSETIMPORT)
       librt
       libbu
       assimp::assimp
-      pugixml::pugixml
     )
     set_property(TARGET gcv-assetimport APPEND PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS BRLCADBUILD HAVE_CONFIG_H)
     validate_style(gcv-assetimport "${ASSETIMPORT_SRCS}")
diff --git a/src/libged/facetize/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libged/facetize/CMakeLists.txt
index 709685859c..403c410843 100644
--- a/src/libged/facetize/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libged/facetize/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 brlcad_find_package(MANIFOLD REQUIRED)
-brlcad_find_package(pugixml)
+message("starting")
 brlcad_find_package(assimp)
+message("done")
 
 set(FACETIZE_LOCAL_INCLUDE_DIRS)
 
@@ -8,10 +9,10 @@ if(MANIFOLD_LIBRARIES)
   list(APPEND FACETIZE_LOCAL_INCLUDE_DIRS ${MANIFOLD_INCLUDE_DIRS})
   add_definitions(-DUSE_MANIFOLD)
 
-  if(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
-    set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp pugixml::pugixml)
+  if(TARGET assimp::assimp)
+    set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp)
     add_definitions(-DUSE_ASSETIMPORT)
-  endif(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+  endif(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARY)
 endif(MANIFOLD_LIBRARIES)
 
 set(FACETIZE_LIBS libged libbu ${MANIFOLD_LIBRARIES} ${ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES})
diff --git a/src/libged/facetize/subprocess/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libged/facetize/subprocess/CMakeLists.txt
index 271a7df2ef..38e83c663c 100644
--- a/src/libged/facetize/subprocess/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libged/facetize/subprocess/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,12 +12,11 @@ set(
 
 brlcad_find_package(MANIFOLD REQUIRED)
 
-brlcad_find_package(pugixml)
 brlcad_find_package(assimp)
-if(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+if(TARGET assimp::assimp)
   add_definitions(-DUSE_ASSETIMPORT)
-  set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp pugixml::pugixml)
-endif(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+  set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp)
+endif(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES)
 
 brlcad_find_package(GEOGRAM REQUIRED SYSPATTERN geogram)
 add_definitions(-DUSE_GEOGRAM)
diff --git a/src/librt/CMakeLists.txt b/src/librt/CMakeLists.txt
index 8e83b7766f..535254ab05 100644
--- a/src/librt/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/librt/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,16 +6,15 @@ if(BRLCAD_ENABLE_ASSETIMPORT)
   # Manifold's assimp integration is convenient for producing glb files, which
   # are needed if we're going to submit problem cases upstream, but using it
   # introduces an additional large dependency just for a debugging output...
-  brlcad_find_package(pugixml)
   brlcad_find_package(assimp)
 endif(BRLCAD_ENABLE_ASSETIMPORT)
 brlcad_find_package(GEOGRAM REQUIRED SYSPATTERN geogram)
 add_definitions(-DUSE_GEOGRAM)
 
-if(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+if(TARGET assimp::assimp)
   add_definitions(-DUSE_ASSETIMPORT)
-  set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp pugixml::pugixml)
-endif(TARGET assimp::assimp AND TARGET pugixml::pugixml)
+  set(ASSETIMPORT_LIBRARIES assimp::assimp)
+endif(TARGET assimp::assimp)
 
 if(NOT BRLCAD_ENABLE_GCT)
   brlcad_find_package(MMESH REQUIRED)