diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index beb8141ad9689fadb6f62395acdffa6718164cb9..9215420345da586c296658a2a617844fb37b2bd4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ endif()
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 # ITK
+if("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "GNU")
+  add_definitions(-DVCL_CAN_STATIC_CONST_INIT_FLOAT=0 -DVCL_CAN_STATIC_CONST_INIT_INT=0)
+endif()
 
 find_package( ITK REQUIRED )
 include( ${ITK_USE_FILE} )
@@ -34,6 +37,16 @@ include( "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMake/elxITKRequiredModules.cmake" )
 find_package( Boost )
 include_directories( ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+# OpenMP Library 
+# Required for ElastixComponent
+# gcc needs the appropriate flags to support OpenMP 
+find_package(OpenMP)
+if (OPENMP_FOUND)
+    set (CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} ${OpenMP_C_FLAGS}")
+    set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} ${OpenMP_CXX_FLAGS}")
+endif()
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Build SuperElastix
 # For now we just enable all modules