diff --git a/VERSION.md b/VERSION.md
index 6cc4c15..ebdf533 100644
--- a/VERSION.md
+++ b/VERSION.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-1.2.63
+1.2.64
 
 # Change log
+## 1.2.64
+- feat: add explicit dependency checks for optional components
+- feat: disable automatic source RPM generation
+- fix: prevent cryptic build failures when dependencies are missing
 ## 1.2.63
 - fix: kernel Makefile now generates version header automatically
 ## 1.2.62
diff --git a/cmake/CreatePackage.cmake b/cmake/CreatePackage.cmake
index 4ab4ed7..08e4521 100644
--- a/cmake/CreatePackage.cmake
+++ b/cmake/CreatePackage.cmake
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ set(CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DIST ON)
 set(CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_LICENSE "BSD-2-Clause-Patent")
 set(CPACK_RPM_BUILD_SOURCE_DIRS_PREFIX "/clltk-debug")
 
+# Disable automatic source RPM generation
+# Source RPMs can still be built explicitly via the 'srpm' target
+set(CPACK_SOURCE_GENERATOR "")
+
 # Per-component RPM package names
 set(CPACK_RPM_TRACING_PACKAGE_NAME "clltk-tracing")
 set(CPACK_RPM_DECODER_LIBS_PACKAGE_NAME "clltk-decoder")
diff --git a/command_line_tool/interface/CMakeLists.txt b/command_line_tool/interface/CMakeLists.txt
index a3caf6d..c3d0ae7 100644
--- a/command_line_tool/interface/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/command_line_tool/interface/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2024, International Business Machines
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
 
-
+# Check for required dependencies
+find_package(RapidJSON QUIET)
+if(NOT RapidJSON_FOUND)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "command_line_tool requires rapidjson-devel package. Install it or disable with -DCLLTK_COMMAND_LINE_TOOL=OFF")
+endif()
 
 find_package(RapidJSON REQUIRED)
 find_package(CLI11 REQUIRED)
diff --git a/decoder_tool/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/decoder_tool/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 0611173..ac22857 100644
--- a/decoder_tool/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/decoder_tool/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 
 
+# Check for required Boost dependency
+find_package(Boost QUIET CONFIG)
+if(NOT Boost_FOUND)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "cpp decoder requires boost-devel package. Install it or disable with -DCLLTK_CPP_DECODER=OFF")
+endif()
+
 find_package(Boost REQUIRED CONFIG)
 
 set(TARGET_SOURCES
diff --git a/snapshot_library/CMakeLists.txt b/snapshot_library/CMakeLists.txt
index 2836469..3b74126 100644
--- a/snapshot_library/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/snapshot_library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2024, International Business Machines
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
 
+# Check for required libarchive dependency
+find_library(ARCHIVE_LIBRARY NAMES archive)
+if(NOT ARCHIVE_LIBRARY)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "snapshot_library requires libarchive-devel package. Install it or disable with -DCLLTK_SNAPSHOT=OFF")
+endif()
+
 add_library(clltk_snapshot_static STATIC
     source/file.cpp
     source/snapshot.cpp