diff --git a/cmake/modules/QtConfig.cmake b/cmake/modules/QtConfig.cmake
index 448e5c1..2700230 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/QtConfig.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/QtConfig.cmake
@@ -299,7 +299,8 @@ if (ENABLE_QT_TRANSLATIONS AND TS_FILES)
     set(APP_SPECIFIC_QT_TRANSLATIONS_AVAILABLE YES)
 
     # require the LinguistTools module (not adding it to QT_MODULES because we don't link against it)
-    if (QT_HOST_PATH)
+    find_package("${QT_LINGUIST_TOOLS_PACKAGE}")
+    if (NOT "${${QT_LINGUIST_TOOLS_PACKAGE}_FOUND}" AND QT_HOST_PATH)
         # find the module within the host path when set (required for cross compilation with Qt 6 as the module is absent in
         # the target install tree)
         find_package(
@@ -308,10 +309,10 @@ if (ENABLE_QT_TRANSLATIONS AND TS_FILES)
             "${QT_HOST_PATH}"
             "${QT_HOST_PATH}/lib/cmake"
             NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH
-            NO_DEFAULT_PATH
-            REQUIRED)
-    else ()
-        find_package("${QT_LINGUIST_TOOLS_PACKAGE}" REQUIRED)
+            NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    endif ()
+    if (NOT "${${QT_LINGUIST_TOOLS_PACKAGE}_FOUND}")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Qt translations are enabled but the CMake module \"${QT_LINGUIST_TOOLS_PACKAGE}\" could not be found.")
     endif ()
 
     if (NOT COMMAND qt_create_translation)