diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 23d821e8a..190f72228 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ option(STORM_USE_COTIRE "Sets whether Cotire should be used (for building precom
 option(LINK_LIBCXXABI "Sets whether libc++abi should be linked." OFF)
 option(USE_LIBCXX "Sets whether the standard library is libc++." OFF)
 option(USE_CARL "Sets whether carl should be included." ON)
-option(USE_XERCES "Sets whether xerces should be used." OFF)
+option(XML_SUPPORT "Sets whether xml based format parsing should be included." ON)
 option(FORCE_COLOR "Force color output" OFF)
 mark_as_advanced(FORCE_COLOR)
 option(STORM_PYTHON "Builds the API for Python" OFF)
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ set(CUDA_ROOT "" CACHE STRING "The hint to the root directory of CUDA (optional)
 set(MSAT_ROOT "" CACHE STRING "The hint to the root directory of MathSAT (optional).")
 set(ADDITIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS "" CACHE STRING "Additional directories added to the include directories.")
 set(ADDITIONAL_LINK_DIRS "" CACHE STRING "Additional directories added to the link directories.")
-
+set(USE_XERCES ${XML_SUPPORT})
+mark_as_advanced(USE_XERCES)
 
 # Set some CMAKE Variables as advanced
 mark_as_advanced(CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES)
diff --git a/resources/3rdparty/include_xerces.cmake b/resources/3rdparty/include_xerces.cmake
index 73f559cec..a90d11379 100644
--- a/resources/3rdparty/include_xerces.cmake
+++ b/resources/3rdparty/include_xerces.cmake
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ if(USE_XERCES)
         set(XERCES_ROOT ${STORM_3RDPARTY_BINARY_DIR}/xercesc-3.1.2)
         set(XERCESC_INCLUDE ${XERCES_ROOT}/include)
         set(XERCES_LIBRARY_PATH ${XERCES_ROOT}/lib)
-        set(XERCESC_LIBRARIES ${XERCES_LIBRARY_PATH}/libxerces-c.a)
-
+        if(BUILD_STATIC)
+            set(XERCESC_LIBRARIES ${XERCES_LIBRARY_PATH}/libxerces-c.a)
+        else()
+            set(XERCESC_LIBRARIES ${XERCES_LIBRARY_PATH}/libxerces-c${DYNAMIC_EXT})
+        endif()
         add_dependencies(resources xercesc)
     endif()
 
@@ -33,4 +36,6 @@ if(USE_XERCES)
     endif()
     find_package(CURL)
     list(APPEND STORM_LINK_LIBRARIES ${XERCESC_LIBRARIES} ${COREFOUNDATION_LIBRARY} ${CORESERVICES_LIBRARY} ${CURL_LIBRARIES})
+else()
+    message (WARNING "StoRM - Building without Xerces disables parsing XML formats (for GSPNs)")
 endif(USE_XERCES)