diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f1d6f732..51809690 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ For Emscripten,
      setting up the environment with emsdk_env. https://emscripten.org/
   2. `git clone git://github.com/ioquake/ioq3.git`
   3. `cd ioq3`
-  4. `emcmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`
+  4. `emcmake cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`
   5. `cmake --build build`
   3. Copy or symlink your baseq3 pk3 files into the `build/Release/baseq3`
      directory so they can be loaded at run-time. Only game files listed in
diff --git a/cmake/libraries/sdl.cmake b/cmake/libraries/sdl.cmake
index 04993833..4cd0b299 100644
--- a/cmake/libraries/sdl.cmake
+++ b/cmake/libraries/sdl.cmake
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ if(NOT BUILD_CLIENT)
     return()
 endif()
 
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+    # Emscripten provides its own self contained SDL setup
+    list(APPEND CLIENT_COMPILE_OPTIONS -sUSE_SDL=2)
+    list(APPEND CLIENT_LINK_OPTIONS -sUSE_SDL=2)
+    return()
+endif()
+
 set(INTERNAL_SDL_DIR ${SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/SDL2-2.32.8)
 
 include(utils/arch)
diff --git a/cmake/platforms/emscripten.cmake b/cmake/platforms/emscripten.cmake
index 03ba18f6..38cbe244 100644
--- a/cmake/platforms/emscripten.cmake
+++ b/cmake/platforms/emscripten.cmake
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ set(USE_OPENAL_DLOPEN OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
 set(BUILD_GAME_LIBRARIES OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
 set(USE_HTTP OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
 
-list(APPEND CLIENT_COMPILE_OPTIONS -sUSE_SDL=2)
-
 list(APPEND CLIENT_LINK_OPTIONS
     -sTOTAL_MEMORY=256MB
     -sSTACK_SIZE=5MB