diff --git a/build/cmake/lib/regex.cmake b/build/cmake/lib/regex.cmake
index 55bcde17c1..41eadda877 100644
--- a/build/cmake/lib/regex.cmake
+++ b/build/cmake/lib/regex.cmake
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@
 # Licence:     wxWindows licence
 #############################################################################
 
-if(wxUSE_REGEX)
-    set(wxUSE_REGEX builtin)
+if(wxUSE_REGEX STREQUAL "builtin")
+    # TODO: implement building PCRE2 via its CMake file, using
+    # add_subdirectory or ExternalProject_Add
     wx_add_builtin_library(wxregex
         3rdparty/pcre/src/pcre2_auto_possess.c
         3rdparty/pcre/src/pcre2_compile.c
@@ -42,4 +43,8 @@ if(wxUSE_REGEX)
     set(REGEX_INCLUDE_DIRS ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/pcre/src/wx)
     target_compile_definitions(wxregex PRIVATE __WX__ HAVE_CONFIG_H)
     target_include_directories(wxregex PRIVATE ${wxSETUP_HEADER_PATH} ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/include ${REGEX_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+elseif(wxUSE_REGEX)
+    find_package(PCRE2 REQUIRED)
+    set(REGEX_LIBRARIES ${PCRE2_LIBRARIES})
+    set(REGEX_INCLUDE_DIRS ${PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 endif()
diff --git a/build/cmake/modules/FindPCRE2.cmake b/build/cmake/modules/FindPCRE2.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a27693aeb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/cmake/modules/FindPCRE2.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Find the PCRE2 headers and libraries.
+#
+#  Optionally define the following variables:
+#     PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH - code unit width: 8 (default), 16 or 32 bit.
+#
+#  This module defines the following variables:
+#     PCRE2_FOUND        - true if PCRE2 is found.
+#     PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS - list of PCRE2 include directories.
+#     PCRE2_LIBRARIES    - list of PCRE2 libraries.
+
+if(NOT PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH)
+    set(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 8)
+endif()
+
+if(NOT PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH EQUAL PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH_USED)
+    unset(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH_USED CACHE)
+    unset(PCRE2_FOUND CACHE)
+    unset(PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS CACHE)
+    unset(PCRE2_LIBRARIES CACHE)
+endif()
+
+set(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH_USED "${PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH}" CACHE INTERNAL "")
+
+
+find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)
+pkg_check_modules(PC_PCRE2 QUIET libpcre2-${PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH})
+
+find_path(PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS
+    NAMES pcre2.h
+    HINTS ${PC_PCRE2_INCLUDEDIR}
+          ${PC_PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+)
+
+find_library(PCRE2_LIBRARIES
+    NAMES pcre2-${PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH}
+    HINTS ${PC_PCRE2_LIBDIR}
+          ${PC_PCRE2_LIBRARY_DIRS}
+)
+
+include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
+FIND_PACKAGE_HANDLE_STANDARD_ARGS(PCRE2 REQUIRED_VARS PCRE2_LIBRARIES PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS VERSION_VAR PC_PCRE2_VERSION)
+
+mark_as_advanced(PCRE2_LIBRARIES PCRE2_INCLUDE_DIRS)
diff --git a/build/cmake/options.cmake b/build/cmake/options.cmake
index b67bad3e20..610f293e5f 100644
--- a/build/cmake/options.cmake
+++ b/build/cmake/options.cmake
@@ -96,8 +96,19 @@ wx_option(wxUSE_REPRODUCIBLE_BUILD "enable reproducable build" OFF)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # external libraries
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+set(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 8)
+if(wxUSE_UNICODE AND (NOT DEFINED wxUSE_UNICODE_UTF8 OR NOT wxUSE_UNICODE_UTF8))
+    # This is also checked in setup.cmake, but setup.cmake will run after options.cmake.
+    include(CheckTypeSize)
+    check_type_size(wchar_t SIZEOF_WCHAR_T)
+    if(HAVE_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T AND SIZEOF_WCHAR_T EQUAL 2)
+        set(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 16)
+    elseif(HAVE_SIZEOF_WCHAR_T AND SIZEOF_WCHAR_T EQUAL 4)
+        set(PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH 32)
+    endif()
+endif()
 
-wx_add_thirdparty_library(wxUSE_REGEX REGEX "enable support for wxRegEx class" DEFAULT builtin)
+wx_add_thirdparty_library(wxUSE_REGEX PCRE2 "enable support for wxRegEx class")
 wx_add_thirdparty_library(wxUSE_ZLIB ZLIB "use zlib for LZW compression" DEFAULT_APPLE sys)
 wx_add_thirdparty_library(wxUSE_EXPAT EXPAT "use expat for XML parsing" DEFAULT_APPLE sys)
 wx_add_thirdparty_library(wxUSE_LIBJPEG JPEG "use libjpeg (JPEG file format)")