diff --git a/configure b/configure
index fc4866ebb9c..c773f9542ad 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -629,6 +629,7 @@ CXXFLAGS
 CXX
 OCAML_PKG_opam_0install_cudf
 OCAML_PKG_mccs
+OCAML_PKG_spdx_licenses
 OCAML_PKG_opam_file_format
 OCAML_PKG_dose3_algo
 OCAML_PKG_dose3_common
@@ -6036,6 +6037,30 @@ $as_echo "not found" >&6; }
 
 
 
+  { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for OCaml findlib package spdx_licenses" >&5
+$as_echo_n "checking for OCaml findlib package spdx_licenses... " >&6; }
+
+  unset found
+  unset pkg
+  found=no
+  for pkg in spdx_licenses  ; do
+    if $OCAMLFIND query $pkg >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
+      { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: found" >&5
+$as_echo "found" >&6; }
+      OCAML_PKG_spdx_licenses=$pkg
+      found=yes
+      break
+    fi
+  done
+  if test "$found" = "no" ; then
+    { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: not found" >&5
+$as_echo "not found" >&6; }
+    OCAML_PKG_spdx_licenses=no
+  fi
+
+
+
+
   { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for OCaml findlib package mccs" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking for OCaml findlib package mccs... " >&6; }
 
@@ -6473,6 +6498,7 @@ if test "x${enable_checks}" != "xno" && {
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_cudf" = "xno" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_dose3_common" = "xno" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_opam_file_format" = "xno" ||
+       test "x$OCAML_PKG_spdx_licenses" = "xno" ||
        test "x$CPPO" = "x" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_mccs$MCCS_ENABLED" = "xnotrue" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_opam_0install_cudf$OPAM_0INSTALL_SOLVER_ENABLED" = "xnotrue";}; then :
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ee30bda0537..e1aed8d3ad4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -333,6 +333,7 @@ AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([cudf])
 AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG(dose3.common,dose.common)
 AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG(dose3.algo,dose.algo)
 AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([opam-file-format])
+AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([spdx_licenses])
 AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([mccs])
 AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([opam-0install-cudf])
 
@@ -396,6 +397,7 @@ AS_IF([test "x${enable_checks}" != "xno" && {
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_cudf" = "xno" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_dose3_common" = "xno" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_opam_file_format" = "xno" ||
+       test "x$OCAML_PKG_spdx_licenses" = "xno" ||
        test "x$CPPO" = "x" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_mccs$MCCS_ENABLED" = "xnotrue" ||
        test "x$OCAML_PKG_opam_0install_cudf$OPAM_0INSTALL_SOLVER_ENABLED" = "xnotrue";}],[
diff --git a/master_changes.md b/master_changes.md
index afbc9d9a53d..e2ab21695fa 100644
--- a/master_changes.md
+++ b/master_changes.md
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ users)
   * Use `--without-dune` in `make cold` to avoid picking up external Dune [#4776 @dra27 - fix #3987]
   * Add `--with-vendored-deps` to replace `make lib-ext` instruction [#4776 @dra27 - fix #4772]
   * Fix vendored build on mingw-w64 with g++ 11.2 [#4835 @dra27]
+  * Switch to vendored build if spdx_licenses is missing [#4842 @dra27]
 
 ## Infrastructure
   *