cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8) project(include_before) include_directories(adir) include_directories(BEFORE bdir) get_property(dirs DIRECTORY PROPERTY INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES) message(STATUS "include directories: ${dirs}") list(FIND dirs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/bdir" blocation) if(NOT blocation EQUAL 0) message(FATAL_ERROR "bdir did not come first") endif()