diff --git a/source/CMakeLists.txt b/source/CMakeLists.txt
index c1c35200..ac6912af 100644
--- a/source/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 include(FindPkgConfig)
+include(FindZLIB)
 
-pkg_check_modules(YAML REQUIRED yaml-0.1)
-pkg_check_modules(MINIZIP REQUIRED minizip)
-pkg_check_modules(ZLIB REQUIRED zlib)
-pkg_check_modules(SLIRP slirp)
+find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
+pkg_search_module(YAML REQUIRED yaml-0.1)
+pkg_search_module(MINIZIP REQUIRED minizip)
+pkg_search_module(SLIRP slirp)
 
 if ("${SLIRP_FOUND}" STREQUAL "")
   message(WARNING "'libslirp' not found. Will use 'libpcap' instead")
 endif()
 
-pkg_check_modules(PCAP libpcap)
+pkg_search_module(PCAP libpcap)
 if ("${PCAP_FOUND}" STREQUAL "")
   # old versions of pcap do not work with pkg-config
   # this is necessary on Rapsberri Pi OS
@@ -214,7 +215,6 @@ target_include_directories(appleii PRIVATE
   ${PCAP_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   ${SLIRP_INCLUDE_DIRS}
-  ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   Debugger
   )
 
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ target_link_libraries(appleii PRIVATE
   ${MINIZIP_LIBRARIES}
   ${PCAP_LIBRARIES}
   ${SLIRP_LIBRARIES}
-  ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}
+  ZLIB::ZLIB
   )
 
 target_link_libraries(appleii PUBLIC
@@ -240,7 +240,6 @@ target_link_directories(appleii PRIVATE
   ${MINIZIP_LIBRARY_DIRS}
   ${PCAP_LIBRARY_DIRS}
   ${SLIRP_LIBRARY_DIRS}
-  ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_DIRS}
   )
 
 target_compile_options(appleii PUBLIC
diff --git a/source/frontends/ncurses/CMakeLists.txt b/source/frontends/ncurses/CMakeLists.txt
index c65fe9dd..0e8895de 100644
--- a/source/frontends/ncurses/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/frontends/ncurses/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include(FindPkgConfig)
+include(FindCurses)
 
 set(SOURCE_FILES
   main.cpp
@@ -22,22 +23,23 @@ add_executable(applen
   ${HEADER_FILES}
   )
 
-pkg_search_module(NCURSESW REQUIRED ncursesw)
+find_package(Curses REQUIRED)
+# pkg_search_module(NCURSESW REQUIRED ncursesw)
 pkg_search_module(LIBEVDEV REQUIRED libevdev)
 
 target_include_directories(applen PRIVATE
-  ${NCURSESW_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+  ${CURSES_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   ${LIBEVDEV_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   )
 
 target_compile_options(applen PRIVATE
-  ${NCURSESW_CFLAGS_OTHER}
+  ${CURSES_CFLAGS}
   ${LIBEVDEV_CFLAGS_OTHER}
   )
 
 target_link_libraries(applen PRIVATE
-  ${NCURSESW_LIBRARIES}
+  ${CURSES_LIBRARIES}
   ${LIBEVDEV_LIBRARIES}
   appleii
   common2
diff --git a/source/frontends/sdl/CMakeLists.txt b/source/frontends/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
index 541c327a..3d75a3e6 100644
--- a/source/frontends/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/frontends/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include(FindPkgConfig)
+include(FindOpenGL)
 
 add_executable(sa2)
 
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@ set(IMGUI_PATH "imgui/imgui")
 set(IMGUI_CLUB_PATH "imgui/imgui_club")
 
 find_package(SDL2 REQUIRED)
+# we should use find_package, but Ubuntu does not provide it for SDL2_image
 pkg_search_module(SDL2_IMAGE REQUIRED SDL2_image)
 
 
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 if (SA2_OPENGL)
-  pkg_search_module(GLES2 REQUIRED opengl)
+  find_package(OpenGL REQUIRED)
 else()
   pkg_search_module(GLES2 REQUIRED glesv2)
   target_compile_definitions(sa2 PRIVATE
@@ -51,12 +53,14 @@ target_compile_features(sa2 PUBLIC cxx_std_17)
 target_include_directories(sa2 PRIVATE
   ${SDL2_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   ${SDL2_IMAGE_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+  ${GLES2_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   )
 
 target_link_libraries(sa2 PRIVATE
   ${SDL2_LIBRARIES}
   ${SDL2_IMAGE_LIBRARIES}
   ${GLES2_LIBRARIES}
+  OpenGL::GL
   appleii
   common2
   windows