diff --git a/externals/nitro/modules/c++/nitf/source/UnitTests.cpp b/externals/nitro/modules/c++/nitf/source/UnitTests.cpp
index 0a3a92d33..1616efd98 100644
--- a/externals/nitro/modules/c++/nitf/source/UnitTests.cpp
+++ b/externals/nitro/modules/c++/nitf/source/UnitTests.cpp
@@ -240,10 +240,15 @@ std::string nitf::Test::buildPluginsDir(const std::string& dir)
 	if (!is_directory(plugins))
 	{
 		// Developers might not set things up for "cmake --install ."
-		plugins = buildDir_.parent_path() / "modules" / "c" / dir;
+	        static const auto modules_c_dir = std::filesystem::path("modules") / "c" / dir;
+		plugins = buildDir_.parent_path() / modules_c_dir;
 		if (!is_directory(plugins))
 		{
+		    plugins = buildDir_.parent_path() / "externals" / "nitro" / modules_c_dir;
+		    if (!is_directory(plugins))
+		    {
 			throw std::logic_error("Can't find 'plugins' directory: " + plugins.string());
+		    }
 		}
 	}
 	return plugins.string();
@@ -259,4 +264,4 @@ fs::path nitf::Test::findInputFile(const fs::path& inputFile)
 {
 	const auto root = find_NITRO_root();
 	return root / inputFile;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}