diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 047b0ec3..9127cd0d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,12 +26,11 @@ add_subdirectory(third_party)
 # available otherwise we fallback to the older protobuf method. TODO: Simplify
 # once we can require cmake 3.27 (where CONFIG is default).
 find_package(Protobuf QUIET CONFIG)
-if(${Protobuf_FOUND})
-  set(PROTOBUF_LOADED_AS_CONFIG ON)
-else()
+set(ABSL_INCLUDED_WITH_PROTOBUF ON)
+if(NOT ${Protobuf_FOUND})
   find_package(Protobuf REQUIRED)
   include_directories(${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-  set(PROTOBUF_LOADED_AS_CONFIG OFF)
+  set(ABSL_INCLUDED_WITH_PROTOBUF OFF)
 endif()
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake_modules")
diff --git a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
index f1b01cc0..7b8d8e60 100644
--- a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-if(NOT ${PROTOBUF_LOADED_AS_CONFIG})
+if(NOT ${ABSL_INCLUDED_WITH_PROTOBUF})
   set(ABSL_PROPAGATE_CXX_STD ON)
   add_subdirectory(abseil-cpp)
 endif()