diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6f2e3ec5..43c6520c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -215,9 +215,9 @@ if (KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION)
         message(STATUS "Cereal: building from source.")
     endif ()
     target_link_libraries(kamping_base INTERFACE cereal::cereal)
+    target_compile_definitions(kamping_base INTERFACE KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION)
     message(STATUS "Serialization: enabled")
 else ()
-    target_compile_definitions(kamping_base INTERFACE KAMPING_DISABLE_SERIALIZATION)
     message(STATUS "Serialization: disabled")
 endif ()
 
diff --git a/include/kamping/serialization.hpp b/include/kamping/serialization.hpp
index 698a317e..ed579d15 100644
--- a/include/kamping/serialization.hpp
+++ b/include/kamping/serialization.hpp
@@ -17,14 +17,14 @@
 
 #include <type_traits>
 
-#if !defined(KAMPING_DISABLE_SERIALIZATION)
+#ifdef KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION
     #include "cereal/archives/binary.hpp"
 #endif
 #include "kamping/data_buffer.hpp"
 
 namespace kamping {
 namespace internal {
-#if !defined(KAMPING_DISABLE_SERIALIZATION)
+#ifdef KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION
 
 /// @brief Buffer holding serialized data.
 ///
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ struct serialization_support_tag {};
 /// @brief Type trait to check if a type is a serialization buffer.
 template <typename>
 constexpr bool is_serialization_buffer_v_impl = false;
-#if !defined(KAMPING_DISABLE_SERIALIZATION)
+#ifdef KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION
 /// @brief Type trait to check if a type is a serialization buffer.
 template <typename... Args>
 constexpr bool is_serialization_buffer_v_impl<SerializationBuffer<Args...>> = true;
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ auto deserialization_repack(BufferType buffer) {
     }
 }
 } // namespace internal
-#if !defined(KAMPING_DISABLE_SERIALIZATION)
+#ifdef KAMPING_ENABLE_SERIALIZATION
 /// @brief Serializes an object using [`cereal`](https://uscilab.github.io/cereal/).
 /// @tparam Archive Type of the archive to use for serialization (see
 /// https://uscilab.github.io/cereal/serialization_archives.html). Default is `cereal::BinaryOutputArchive`.