diff --git a/src/autotype/CMakeLists.txt b/src/autotype/CMakeLists.txt
index 6b9b8b67..7d740e22 100644
--- a/src/autotype/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/autotype/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ if(WITH_XC_AUTOTYPE)
             add_feature_info(Qt5X11Extras Qt5X11Extras_FOUND "The Qt5X11Extras library is required for auto-type")
         endif()
 
+        # an error will be emitted by find_package above if X11 (or Qt5X11Extras) dev files were not found.
+        # X11 possibly is installed and found while X11_Xi and/or X11_XTest are not, so we emit a warning.
+        if(NOT X11_Xi_FOUND)
+            message(WARNING "The X11 Xi Protocol library is required for auto-type (try libxi-dev package)")
+        endif()
+
+        if(NOT X11_XTest_FOUND)
+            message(WARNING "The X11 XTEST Protocol library is required for auto-type (try libxtst-dev package)")
+        endif()
+
         if(X11_FOUND AND X11_Xi_FOUND AND X11_XTest_FOUND AND Qt5X11Extras_FOUND)
             add_subdirectory(xcb)
         endif()