diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bf3bcba98..8747efe0c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ else()
         target_link_libraries(fastgltf PRIVATE simdjson::simdjson)
     else()
         # Download and configure simdjson
-        set(SIMDJSON_TARGET_VERSION "3.3.6")
+        set(SIMDJSON_TARGET_VERSION "3.6.3")
         set(SIMDJSON_DL_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/simdjson")
         file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${SIMDJSON_DL_DIR})
 
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ else()
             file(STRINGS ${SIMDJSON_HEADER_FILE} SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION_LINE REGEX "^#define SIMDJSON_VERSION ")
             string(REGEX MATCHALL "[0-9.]+" SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION "${SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION_LINE}")
             message(STATUS "fastgltf: Found simdjson (Version ${SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION})")
+
+            if (SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION STREQUAL "")
+                message(FATAL_ERROR "fastgltf: Failed to download simdjson")
+            endif()
+
             if (SIMDJSON_HEADER_VERSION VERSION_LESS SIMDJSON_TARGET_VERSION)
                 message(STATUS "fastgltf: simdjson outdated, downloading...")
                 download_simdjson()