diff --git a/CMakeModules/nel.cmake b/CMakeModules/nel.cmake
index 5cb0063df..abdd9ad23 100644
--- a/CMakeModules/nel.cmake
+++ b/CMakeModules/nel.cmake
@@ -1268,7 +1268,9 @@ MACRO(SETUP_EXTERNAL)
     SET(CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT 1)
     SET(Threads_FOUND TRUE)
   ELSE()
-    SET(THREADS_HAVE_PTHREAD_ARG ON)
+    IF(NOT MSVC)
+      SET(THREADS_HAVE_PTHREAD_ARG ON)
+    ENDIF()
     FIND_PACKAGE(Threads)
     # TODO: replace all -l<lib> by absolute path to <lib> in CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT
   ENDIF()