diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4314ec3b..fa498420 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ if 'NETGEN_CCACHE' in os.environ:
 
 packages = ['netgen', 'pyngcore']
 
+have_mpi = False
 if 'darwin' in sys.platform:
     cmake_args += [
         '-DNG_INSTALL_DIR_LIB=netgen',
@@ -68,6 +69,11 @@ if 'darwin' in sys.platform:
         '-DNG_INSTALL_DIR_INCLUDE=netgen/include',
         '-DNG_INSTALL_DIR_RES=share',
     ]
+    if os.path.exists('/usr/local/include/mpi.h'):
+        have_mpi = True
+        cmake_args += [
+            '-DOPENMPI_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/local/include',
+        ]
 elif 'win' in sys.platform:
     cmake_args += [
         '-A Win64',
@@ -77,6 +83,12 @@ elif 'win' in sys.platform:
         '-DNG_INSTALL_DIR_CMAKE=netgen/cmake',
         '-DNG_INSTALL_DIR_INCLUDE=netgen/include',
     ]
+    if os.path.exists('C:/python/312/Library/lib/impi.lib'):
+        have_mpi = True
+        cmake_args += [
+            '-DINTEL_MPI_INCLUDE_DIR=C:/python/312/Library/include',
+            '-DINTEL_MPI_LIBRARY=C:/python/312/Library/lib/impi.lib',
+        ]
 elif 'linux' in sys.platform:
     name_dir = name.replace('-','_')
     cmake_args += [
@@ -86,8 +98,25 @@ elif 'linux' in sys.platform:
         '-DTCL_INCLUDE_PATH=/usr/include',
         '-DTK_INCLUDE_PATH=/usr/include',
     ]
+    mpich_include = '/usr/include/mpich-3.2-x86_64'
+    openmpi_include = '/usr/include/openmpi-x86_64'
+    if os.path.exists(mpich_include+'/mpi.h'):
+        have_mpi = True
+        cmake_args += [
+            f'-DMPICH_INCLUDE_DIR={mpich_include}',
+        ]
+    if os.path.exists(openmpi_include+'/mpi.h'):
+        have_mpi = True
+        cmake_args += [
+            f'-DOPENMPI_INCLUDE_DIR={mpich_include}',
+        ]
     packages = []
 
+if have_mpi:
+    cmake_args += [
+        '-DUSE_MPI=ON',
+    ]
+
 cmake_args += [
         '-DUSE_SUPERBUILD:BOOL=ON',
         '-DUSE_CCACHE:BOOL=ON',
diff --git a/tests/build_pip.sh b/tests/build_pip.sh
index 9a1fd67b..8ab811a5 100755
--- a/tests/build_pip.sh
+++ b/tests/build_pip.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 set -e
 ulimit -n 1024000 # lower open file limit, seems to affect performance
 yum -y update
-yum -y install ninja-build fontconfig-devel tk-devel tcl-devel libXmu-devel mesa-libGLU-devel ccache
+yum -y install ninja-build fontconfig-devel tk-devel tcl-devel libXmu-devel mesa-libGLU-devel ccache mpich-3.2-devel openmpi-devel
 
 rm -rf wheelhouse
 export NETGEN_CCACHE=1