diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
index 4b4ffda520f3f1fb50543c2abfcd92dcecb3e0d1..6001999f9e43c1f125422c87d8e8331aa532f7a2 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalGenerator.cxx
@@ -596,6 +596,16 @@ void cmGlobalGenerator::EnableLanguage(
       mf->ReadListFile(fpath);
     }
   }
+
+  if (readCMakeSystem) {
+    // Find the native build tool for this generator.
+    // This has to be done early so that MSBuild can be used to examine the
+    // cross-compilation environment.
+    if (!this->FindMakeProgram(mf)) {
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
   //  Load the CMakeDetermineSystem.cmake file and find out
   // what platform we are running on
   if (!mf->GetDefinition("CMAKE_SYSTEM")) {
@@ -667,11 +677,6 @@ void cmGlobalGenerator::EnableLanguage(
       cmSystemTools::SetFatalErrorOccured();
       return;
     }
-
-    // Find the native build tool for this generator.
-    if (!this->FindMakeProgram(mf)) {
-      return;
-    }
   }
 
   // Check that the languages are supported by the generator and its