diff --git a/tools/cmakev2/project.cmake b/tools/cmakev2/project.cmake
index fbe33255a1a..e5738bf51a4 100644
--- a/tools/cmakev2/project.cmake
+++ b/tools/cmakev2/project.cmake
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ function(__project_default)
                          COMPONENTS main
                          MAPFILE_TARGET "${executable}_mapfile")
 
-    if(CONFIG_APP_BUILD_GENERATE_BINARIES)
+    if(CONFIG_APP_BUILD_GENERATE_BINARIES AND TARGET idf::esptool_py)
         # Is it possible to have a configuration where
         # CONFIG_APP_BUILD_GENERATE_BINARIES is not set?