diff --git a/src/backends/reference/backend.cmake b/src/backends/reference/backend.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95e72a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backends/reference/backend.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#
+# Copyright © 2017 Arm Ltd. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#
+
+add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/backends/reference)
+list(APPEND armnnLibraries armnnRefBackend armnnRefBackendWorkloads)