diff --git a/libmongocxx_ros/CMakeLists.txt b/libmongocxx_ros/CMakeLists.txt
index 2672744..f6627e1 100644
--- a/libmongocxx_ros/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libmongocxx_ros/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,250 +1,81 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
 project(libmongocxx_ros)
 
-
-
-## Compile as C++11, supported in ROS Kinetic and newer
-# add_compile_options(-std=c++11)
-
-## Find catkin macros and libraries
-## if COMPONENTS list like find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS xyz)
-## is used, also find other catkin packages
-find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS
-)
-
-## System dependencies are found with CMake's conventions
-# find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system)
-
-include(ExternalProject)
-
+find_package(catkin REQUIRED)
+
+# find MongoClient from system first
+# if not found, downloads and compiles from sources
+set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/" ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
+find_package(MongoClient)
+if (MongoClient_FOUND)
+  message(STATUS "Found System MongoClient. Copying them into ROS workspace")
+  add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include)
+  add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/mongo
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR}/mongo ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/mongo
+    DEPENDS ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include)
+  add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mongo
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/mongo ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mongo
+    DEPENDS ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/mongo)
+  add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib)
+  add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${MongoClient_LIBRARY} ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so
+    DEPENDS ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib)
+  add_custom_target(mongocxx
+    DEPENDS
+    ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so
+    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mongo
+    ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/mongo)
+else()
+  message(STATUS "Not Found System MongoClient. Downloading...")
+  include(ProcessorCount)
+  processorcount(PROCESSOR_COUNT)
+  include(ExternalProject)
+  externalproject_add(mongocxx
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/mongodb/mongo-cxx-driver.git
+    GIT_TAG releases/legacy
+    PREFIX "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/mongocxx"
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+    UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
+    BUILD_COMMAND scons -j ${PROCESSOR_COUNT} --ssl --sharedclient --disable-warnings-as-errors --prefix=${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX} install && mkdir -p ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include && ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
+    INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+  )
+endif()
+
+# dependencies of MongoClient
+find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system thread program_options filesystem)
+
+find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
+# workaround for exposing OpenSSL libraries
+set(OpenSSL_LIBRARIES ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
+set(OpenSSL_INCLUDE_DIRS ${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
 
 catkin_package(
-	LIBRARIES mongoclient
-	INCLUDE_DIRS include
-)
-
-ExternalProject_add(mongocxx
-	GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/mongodb/mongo-cxx-driver.git
-	GIT_TAG releases/legacy
-	PREFIX "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/mongocxx"
-	BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
-	#PREFIX mongo_cxx_driver
-	UPDATE_COMMAND ""
-	CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
-#	CONFIGURE_COMMAND "cp -R ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/mongocxx/include ${libmongocxx_ros_SOURCE_DIR}/include"
-	BUILD_COMMAND scons -j 8 --ssl --sharedclient --disable-warnings-as-errors --prefix=${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX} install && mkdir -p ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include &&  cp -R ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/. ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
-	INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-	#CONFIGURE_COMMAND "scons -C ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libmongocxx"
-)
+  LIBRARIES mongoclient
+  INCLUDE_DIRS include
+  DEPENDS Boost OpenSSL)
 
 add_library(mongoclient_imp SHARED IMPORTED)
 set_target_properties(mongoclient_imp PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so)
 
-#find_library(MCLIB NAMES "libmongoclient.so" PATHS "${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib")
-#message(STATUS "${MCLIB}")
-
 add_library(mongoclient)
-# ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so)
-add_custom_command( TARGET mongoclient POST_BUILD COMMAND cp ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/ )
-set_target_properties(mongoclient PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX )
-
+add_custom_command(TARGET mongoclient
+  POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/)
+set_target_properties(mongoclient PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
 
 add_dependencies(mongoclient_imp mongocxx)
 add_dependencies(mongoclient mongoclient_imp)
 
-#add_library(mongoclient_ros SHARED src/dummy.cpp)
-#add_dependencies(mongoclient_ros mongoclient)
-
-#target_link_libraries(mongoclient_ros
-#   PUBLIC mongoclient
-#   ${catkin_LIBRARIES}
-#)
-
-
-## Uncomment this if the package has a setup.py. This macro ensures
-## modules and global scripts declared therein get installed
-## See http://ros.org/doc/api/catkin/html/user_guide/setup_dot_py.html
-# catkin_python_setup()
-
-################################################
-## Declare ROS messages, services and actions ##
-################################################
-
-## To declare and build messages, services or actions from within this
-## package, follow these steps:
-## * Let MSG_DEP_SET be the set of packages whose message types you use in
-##   your messages/services/actions (e.g. std_msgs, actionlib_msgs, ...).
-## * In the file package.xml:
-##   * add a build_depend tag for "message_generation"
-##   * add a build_depend and a run_depend tag for each package in MSG_DEP_SET
-##   * If MSG_DEP_SET isn't empty the following dependency has been pulled in
-##     but can be declared for certainty nonetheless:
-##     * add a run_depend tag for "message_runtime"
-## * In this file (CMakeLists.txt):
-##   * add "message_generation" and every package in MSG_DEP_SET to
-##     find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS ...)
-##   * add "message_runtime" and every package in MSG_DEP_SET to
-##     catkin_package(CATKIN_DEPENDS ...)
-##   * uncomment the add_*_files sections below as needed
-##     and list every .msg/.srv/.action file to be processed
-##   * uncomment the generate_messages entry below
-##   * add every package in MSG_DEP_SET to generate_messages(DEPENDENCIES ...)
-
-## Generate messages in the 'msg' folder
-# add_message_files(
-#   FILES
-#   Message1.msg
-#   Message2.msg
-# )
-
-## Generate services in the 'srv' folder
-# add_service_files(
-#   FILES
-#   Service1.srv
-#   Service2.srv
-# )
-
-## Generate actions in the 'action' folder
-# add_action_files(
-#   FILES
-#   Action1.action
-#   Action2.action
-# )
-
-## Generate added messages and services with any dependencies listed here
-# generate_messages(
-#   DEPENDENCIES
-#   std_msgs  # Or other packages containing msgs
-# )
-
-################################################
-## Declare ROS dynamic reconfigure parameters ##
-################################################
-
-## To declare and build dynamic reconfigure parameters within this
-## package, follow these steps:
-## * In the file package.xml:
-##   * add a build_depend and a run_depend tag for "dynamic_reconfigure"
-## * In this file (CMakeLists.txt):
-##   * add "dynamic_reconfigure" to
-##     find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS ...)
-##   * uncomment the "generate_dynamic_reconfigure_options" section below
-##     and list every .cfg file to be processed
-
-## Generate dynamic reconfigure parameters in the 'cfg' folder
-# generate_dynamic_reconfigure_options(
-#   cfg/DynReconf1.cfg
-#   cfg/DynReconf2.cfg
-# )
-
-###################################
-## catkin specific configuration ##
-###################################
-## The catkin_package macro generates cmake config files for your package
-## Declare things to be passed to dependent projects
-## INCLUDE_DIRS: uncomment this if you package contains header files
-## LIBRARIES: libraries you create in this project that dependent projects also need
-## CATKIN_DEPENDS: catkin_packages dependent projects also need
-## DEPENDS: system dependencies of this project that dependent projects also need
-#catkin_package(
-#  INCLUDE_DIRS 
-#  LIBRARIES mongoclient
-#  CATKIN_DEPENDS roscxx
-#  DEPENDS system_lib
-#)
-
-###########
-## Build ##
-###########
-
-## Specify additional locations of header files
-## Your package locations should be listed before other locations
-include_directories(
-  include
-  ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS}
-)
-
-## Declare a C++ library
-# add_library(${PROJECT_NAME}
-#   src/${PROJECT_NAME}/libmongocxx_ros.cpp
-# )
-
-## Add cmake target dependencies of the library
-## as an example, code may need to be generated before libraries
-## either from message generation or dynamic reconfigure
-# add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} ${${PROJECT_NAME}_EXPORTED_TARGETS} ${catkin_EXPORTED_TARGETS})
-
-## Declare a C++ executable
-## With catkin_make all packages are built within a single CMake context
-## The recommended prefix ensures that target names across packages don't collide
-# add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}_node src/libmongocxx_ros_node.cpp)
-
-## Rename C++ executable without prefix
-## The above recommended prefix causes long target names, the following renames the
-## target back to the shorter version for ease of user use
-## e.g. "rosrun someones_pkg node" instead of "rosrun someones_pkg someones_pkg_node"
-# set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME}_node PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME node PREFIX "")
-
-## Add cmake target dependencies of the executable
-## same as for the library above
-# add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME}_node ${${PROJECT_NAME}_EXPORTED_TARGETS} ${catkin_EXPORTED_TARGETS})
-
-## Specify libraries to link a library or executable target against
-# target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_node
-#   ${catkin_LIBRARIES}
-# )
-
-#############
-## Install ##
-#############
-
-# all install targets should use catkin DESTINATION variables
-# See http://ros.org/doc/api/catkin/html/adv_user_guide/variables.html
-
-## Mark executable scripts (Python etc.) for installation
-## in contrast to setup.py, you can choose the destination
-# install(PROGRAMS
-#   scripts/my_python_script
-#   DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION}
-# )
-
-## Mark executables and/or libraries for installation
+# Mark executables and/or libraries for installation
 install(TARGETS mongoclient
-   ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
-   LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
-   RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION}
-)
-
-#install(FILES 
-#	${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.so
-#	${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/lib/libmongoclient.a
-#	DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
-#)
-
+  ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
+  LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
+  RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})
 
 # Mark cpp header files for installation
 install(DIRECTORY ${CATKIN_DEVEL_PREFIX}/include/
   DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include
   FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.h"
-  PATTERN ".svn" EXCLUDE
-)
-
-## Mark other files for installation (e.g. launch and bag files, etc.)
-# install(FILES
-#   # myfile1
-#   # myfile2
-#   DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION}
-# )
-
-#############
-## Testing ##
-#############
-
-## Add gtest based cpp test target and link libraries
-# catkin_add_gtest(${PROJECT_NAME}-test test/test_libmongocxx_ros.cpp)
-# if(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}-test)
-#   target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}-test ${PROJECT_NAME})
-# endif()
-
-## Add folders to be run by python nosetests
-# catkin_add_nosetests(test)
+  PATTERN ".svn" EXCLUDE)
diff --git a/libmongocxx_ros/cmake/FindMongoClient.cmake b/libmongocxx_ros/cmake/FindMongoClient.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85639ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmongocxx_ros/cmake/FindMongoClient.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# - Find MongoClient; NOTE: this is specific to warehouse_ros!
+# 
+# And copied to here from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros-planning/warehouse_ros/master/cmake/FindMongoDB.cmake -- thanks :)
+#
+# Find the MongoClient includes and client library
+# This module defines
+#  MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR, where to find mongo/client/dbclient.h
+#  MongoClient_LIBRARY, the libraries needed to use MongoClient.
+#  MongoClient_FOUND, If false, do not try to use MongoClient.
+#  MongoClient_EXPOSE_MACROS, If true, mongo_ros should use '#define MONGO_EXPOSE_MACROS'
+
+
+
+set(MongoClient_EXPOSE_MACROS "NO")
+
+set(MongoClient_PossibleIncludePaths
+  /usr/include/
+  /usr/local/include/
+  /usr/include/mongo/
+  /usr/local/include/mongo/
+  /opt/mongo/include/
+  $ENV{ProgramFiles}/Mongo/*/include
+  $ENV{SystemDrive}/Mongo/*/include
+  )
+find_path(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR mongo/client/dbclient.h
+  ${MongoClient_PossibleIncludePaths})
+
+if(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR)
+  find_path(MongoClient_dbclientinterface_Path mongo/client/dbclientinterface.h
+    ${MongoClient_PossibleIncludePaths})
+  if (MongoClient_dbclientinterface_Path)
+    set(MongoClient_EXPOSE_MACROS "YES")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(WIN32)
+  find_library(MongoClient_LIBRARY NAMES mongoclient
+    PATHS
+    $ENV{ProgramFiles}/Mongo/*/lib
+    $ENV{SystemDrive}/Mongo/*/lib
+    )
+else(WIN32)
+  find_library(MongoClient_LIBRARY NAMES mongoclient
+    PATHS
+    /usr/lib
+    /usr/lib64
+    /usr/lib/mongo
+    /usr/lib64/mongo
+    /usr/local/lib
+    /usr/local/lib64
+    /usr/local/lib/mongo
+    /usr/local/lib64/mongo
+    /opt/mongo/lib
+    /opt/mongo/lib64
+    )
+endif(WIN32)
+
+# if we got the mongo stuff, add in the other things we want
+if(MongoClient_LIBRARY)
+  find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system thread program_options filesystem)
+  find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
+  list(APPEND MongoClient_LIBRARIES ${MongoClient_LIBRARY})
+  list(APPEND MongoClient_LIBRARIES ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
+  list(APPEND MongoClient_LIBRARIES ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
+endif(MongoClient_LIBRARY)
+
+if(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR AND MongoClient_LIBRARY)
+  set(MongoClient_FOUND TRUE)
+  message(STATUS "Found MongoClient: ${MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR}, ${MongoClient_LIBRARY}")
+  message(STATUS "MongoClient using new interface: ${MongoClient_EXPOSE_MACROS}")
+else(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR AND MongoClient_LIBRARY)
+  set(MongoClient_FOUND FALSE)
+  if (MongoClient_FIND_REQUIRED)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "MongoClient not found.")
+  else (MongoClient_FIND_REQUIRED)
+    message(STATUS "MongoClient not found.")
+  endif (MongoClient_FIND_REQUIRED)
+endif(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR AND MongoClient_LIBRARY)
+
+mark_as_advanced(MongoClient_INCLUDE_DIR MongoClient_LIBRARY MongoClient_EXPOSE_MACROS)
diff --git a/mongodb_store/CMakeLists.txt b/mongodb_store/CMakeLists.txt
index bfe9357..8c324ce 100644
--- a/mongodb_store/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mongodb_store/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
 project(mongodb_store)
 
-# include our own cmake files
-#set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/" ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
-
 
 find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS roscpp message_generation rospy std_msgs std_srvs mongodb_store_msgs topic_tools libmongocxx_ros)