diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4c6f3d279fd..f5bdbafd2a4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -242,6 +242,11 @@ IF(WITH_CORE)
     SET(HAVE_PDAL TRUE)
   ENDIF(WITH_PDAL)
 
+  SET (WITH_EPT FALSE CACHE BOOL "Determines whether Entwine Point Cloud (EPT) support should be built")
+  IF(WITH_EPT)
+    SET(HAVE_EPT TRUE)
+  ENDIF(WITH_EPT)
+
   #BUILD WITH QtMobility by default on android only. Other platform can force it
   IF (ANDROID)
       SET (DEFAULT_WITH_QTMOBILITY TRUE)
@@ -355,18 +360,6 @@ IF(WITH_CORE)
   FIND_PACKAGE(ZLIB REQUIRED)       # for decompression of vector tiles in MBTiles file
   MESSAGE(STATUS "Found zlib: ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}")
 
-  FIND_PACKAGE(ZSTD) # for decompression of point clouds
-  SET(HAVE_ZSTD FALSE)
-  IF (ZSTD_FOUND)
-    SET(HAVE_ZSTD TRUE)  # used in qgsconfig.h
-  ENDIF (ZSTD_FOUND)
-
-  SET(HAVE_LAZPERF FALSE)
-  FIND_PACKAGE(LazPerf) # for decompression of point clouds
-  IF (LazPerf_FOUND)
-    SET(HAVE_LAZPERF TRUE)  # used in qgsconfig.h
-  ENDIF (LazPerf_FOUND)
-
   # optional
   IF (WITH_POSTGRESQL)
     FIND_PACKAGE(Postgres) # PostgreSQL provider
@@ -395,6 +388,12 @@ IF(WITH_CORE)
     MESSAGE(STATUS "Qt WebKit support DISABLED.")
   ENDIF(WITH_QTWEBKIT)
 
+  IF (WITH_EPT)  # EPT provider
+    FIND_PACKAGE(ZSTD) # for decompression of point clouds
+    FIND_PACKAGE(LazPerf) # for decompression of point clouds
+    SET(HAVE_EPT TRUE)  # used in qgsconfig.h
+  ENDIF (WITH_EPT)
+
   IF (WITH_PDAL)
     FIND_PACKAGE(PDAL) # PDAL provider
   ENDIF (WITH_PDAL)
diff --git a/cmake/FindLazPerf.cmake b/cmake/FindLazPerf.cmake
index 8af07d355b9..fe0c357bcb7 100644
--- a/cmake/FindLazPerf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindLazPerf.cmake
@@ -26,6 +26,5 @@ MARK_AS_ADVANCED(LazPerf_INCLUDE_DIR)
 IF (LazPerf_FOUND)
   MESSAGE(STATUS "Found laz-perf: ${LazPerf_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 ELSE (LazPerf_FOUND)
-  # optional dependency only
-  MESSAGE(STATUS "Could not find laz-perf")
+  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find laz-perf")
 ENDIF (LazPerf_FOUND)
diff --git a/cmake/FindZSTD.cmake b/cmake/FindZSTD.cmake
index bf30eaed86a..0c2b60bc61c 100644
--- a/cmake/FindZSTD.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindZSTD.cmake
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ MARK_AS_ADVANCED(ZSTD_LIBRARY ZSTD_INCLUDE_DIR)
 IF (ZSTD_FOUND)
   MESSAGE(STATUS "Found ZSTD: ${ZSTD_LIBRARY}")
 ELSE (ZSTD_FOUND)
-  MESSAGE(STATUS "Could not find ZSTD")
+  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "Could not find ZSTD")
 ENDIF (ZSTD_FOUND)
diff --git a/cmake_templates/qgsconfig.h.in b/cmake_templates/qgsconfig.h.in
index b636024dade..3eb2969542c 100644
--- a/cmake_templates/qgsconfig.h.in
+++ b/cmake_templates/qgsconfig.h.in
@@ -76,9 +76,7 @@
 
 #cmakedefine HAVE_STATIC_PROVIDERS
 
-#cmakedefine HAVE_ZSTD
-
-#cmakedefine HAVE_LAZPERF
+#cmakedefine HAVE_EPT
 
 #cmakedefine HAVE_PDAL
 #define PDAL_VERSION "${PDAL_VERSION}"
diff --git a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
index 7707ed36a6c..90d90646e2c 100644
--- a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -204,11 +204,6 @@ SET(QGIS_CORE_SRCS
   providers/ogr/qgsogrdbconnection.cpp
   providers/ogr/qgsogrtransaction.cpp
 
-  providers/ept/qgseptdataitems.cpp
-  providers/ept/qgseptprovider.cpp
-  providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp
-  providers/ept/qgseptpointcloudindex.cpp
-
   scalebar/qgsdoubleboxscalebarrenderer.cpp
   scalebar/qgshollowscalebarrenderer.cpp
   scalebar/qgsnumericscalebarrenderer.cpp
@@ -1384,10 +1379,6 @@ SET(QGIS_CORE_HDRS
   providers/ogr/qgsogrdbconnection.h
   providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.h
   providers/ogr/qgsogrtransaction.h
-  providers/ept/qgseptdataitems.h
-  providers/ept/qgseptprovider.h
-  providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.h
-  providers/ept/qgseptpointcloudindex.h
 
   raster/qgsbilinearrasterresampler.h
   raster/qgsbrightnesscontrastfilter.h
@@ -1612,7 +1603,6 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
   providers/gdal
   providers/ogr
   providers/meshmemory
-  providers/ept
   raster
   renderer
   scalebar
@@ -1645,18 +1635,6 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
   ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}
 )
 
-IF (HAVE_ZSTD)
-  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
-    ${ZSTD_INCLUDE_DIR}
-  )
-ENDIF (HAVE_ZSTD)
-
-IF (HAVE_LAZPERF)
-  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
-    ${LazPerf_INCLUDE_DIR}
-  )
-ENDIF (HAVE_LAZPERF)
-
 IF (HAVE_PDAL)
   INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
     ${PDAL_INCLUDE_DIR}
@@ -1673,6 +1651,27 @@ IF (HAVE_OPENCL)
     INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM ${OpenCL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 ENDIF (HAVE_OPENCL)
 
+IF (WITH_EPT)
+  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(providers/ept)
+
+  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
+    ${ZSTD_INCLUDE_DIR}
+    ${LazPerf_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  )
+
+  SET(QGIS_CORE_SRCS ${QGIS_CORE_SRCS}
+      providers/ept/qgseptdataitems.cpp
+      providers/ept/qgseptprovider.cpp
+      providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp
+      providers/ept/qgseptpointcloudindex.cpp
+  )
+  SET(QGIS_CORE_HDRS ${QGIS_CORE_HDRS}
+      providers/ept/qgseptdataitems.h
+      providers/ept/qgseptprovider.h
+      providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.h
+      providers/ept/qgseptpointcloudindex.h
+  )
+ENDIF (WITH_EPT)
 
 IF (APPLE)
   # Libtasn1 is for DER-encoded PKI ASN.1 parsing/extracting workarounds
@@ -1800,11 +1799,11 @@ TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_core
   ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}
 )
 
-IF (HAVE_ZSTD)
+IF (WITH_EPT)
   TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_core
     ${ZSTD_LIBRARY}
   )
-ENDIF (HAVE_ZSTD)
+ENDIF (WITH_EPT)
 
 IF (HAVE_PDAL)
   TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_core
diff --git a/src/core/providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp b/src/core/providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp
index 6c7f294cf04..4e855b5c8fa 100644
--- a/src/core/providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp
+++ b/src/core/providers/ept/qgseptdecoder.cpp
@@ -20,20 +20,17 @@
 #include "qgspointcloudattribute.h"
 #include "qgsvector3d.h"
 #include "qgsconfig.h"
+#include "qgslogger.h"
 
 #include <QFile>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <memory>
 #include <cstring>
 
-#if defined ( HAVE_ZSTD )
 #include <zstd.h>
-#endif
 
-#if defined ( HAVE_LAZPERF )
 #include "laz-perf/io.hpp"
 #include "laz-perf/common/common.hpp"
-#endif
 
 ///@cond PRIVATE
 
@@ -201,8 +198,6 @@ QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressBinary( const QString &filename, co
 
 /* *************************************************************************************** */
 
-#if defined(HAVE_ZSTD)
-
 QByteArray decompressZtdStream( const QByteArray &dataCompressed )
 {
   // NOTE: this is very primitive implementation because we expect the uncompressed
@@ -246,20 +241,8 @@ QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressZStandard( const QString &filename,
   return _decompressBinary( dataUncompressed, attributes, requestedAttributes );
 }
 
-#else // defined(HAVE_ZSTD)
-QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressZStandard( const QString &filename, const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &attributes, const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &requestedAttributes )
-{
-  Q_UNUSED( filename )
-  Q_UNUSED( attributes )
-  Q_UNUSED( requestedAttributes )
-  return nullptr;
-}
-
-#endif // defined(HAVE_ZSTD)
-
 /* *************************************************************************************** */
 
-#if defined ( HAVE_LAZPERF )
 QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressLaz( const QString &filename,
     const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &attributes,
     const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &requestedAttributes )
@@ -311,7 +294,7 @@ QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressLaz( const QString &filename,
     }
   }
   float t = common::since( start );
-  std::cout << "LAZ-PERF Read through the points in " << t << " seconds." << std::endl;
+  QgsDebugMsgLevel( QStringLiteral( "LAZ-PERF Read through the points in %1 seconds." ).arg( t ), 2 );
   return new QgsPointCloudBlock(
            count,
            requestedAttributes,
@@ -319,14 +302,4 @@ QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressLaz( const QString &filename,
          );
 }
 
-#else // defined ( HAVE_LAZPERF )
-QgsPointCloudBlock *QgsEptDecoder::decompressLaz( const QString &filename, const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &attributes, const QgsPointCloudAttributeCollection &requestedAttributes )
-{
-  Q_UNUSED( filename )
-  Q_UNUSED( attributes )
-  Q_UNUSED( requestedAttributes )
-  return nullptr;
-}
-#endif
-
 ///@endcond
diff --git a/src/core/qgsproviderregistry.cpp b/src/core/qgsproviderregistry.cpp
index 9ac2c572277..94392f7ce59 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsproviderregistry.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsproviderregistry.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@
 #include "providers/gdal/qgsgdalprovider.h"
 #include "providers/ogr/qgsogrprovider.h"
 #include "providers/meshmemory/qgsmeshmemorydataprovider.h"
+
+#ifdef HAVE_EPT
 #include "providers/ept/qgseptprovider.h"
+#endif
+
 #include "qgsruntimeprofiler.h"
 #include "qgsfileutils.h"
 
@@ -139,11 +143,13 @@ void QgsProviderRegistry::init()
     QgsProviderMetadata *vt = new QgsVectorTileProviderMetadata();
     mProviders[ vt->key() ] = vt;
   }
+#ifdef HAVE_EPT
   {
     QgsScopedRuntimeProfile profile( QObject::tr( "Create EPT point cloud provider" ) );
     QgsProviderMetadata *pc = new QgsEptProviderMetadata();
     mProviders[ pc->key() ] = pc;
   }
+#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_STATIC_PROVIDERS
   mProviders[ QgsWmsProvider::providerKey() ] = new QgsWmsProviderMetadata();
   mProviders[ QgsPostgresProvider::providerKey() ] = new QgsPostgresProviderMetadata();
diff --git a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index b0134f2a1a7..badd5e6801c 100644
--- a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -349,7 +349,6 @@ SET(QGIS_GUI_SRCS
 
   providers/ept/qgspointcloudsourceselect.cpp
   providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.cpp
-  providers/ept/qgseptdataitemguiprovider.cpp
 
   tableeditor/qgstableeditordialog.cpp
   tableeditor/qgstableeditorformattingwidget.cpp
@@ -1110,7 +1109,6 @@ SET(QGIS_GUI_HDRS
 
   providers/ept/qgspointcloudsourceselect.h
   providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.h
-  providers/ept/qgseptdataitemguiprovider.h
 
   raster/qgscolorrampshaderwidget.h
   raster/qgshillshaderendererwidget.h
@@ -1308,9 +1306,9 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/ogr
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/processing
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/processing/models
+  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/providers/ept
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/providers/gdal
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/providers/ogr
-  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/providers/ept
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/pointcloud
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/raster
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/gui/vector
@@ -1371,6 +1369,16 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
   ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS}
 )
 
+IF (WITH_EPT)
+  SET(QGIS_GUI_SRCS ${QGIS_GUI_SRCS}
+    providers/ept/qgseptdataitemguiprovider.cpp
+  )
+  SET(QGIS_GUI_HDRS ${QGIS_GUI_HDRS}
+    providers/ept/qgseptdataitemguiprovider.h
+  )
+ENDIF (WITH_EPT)
+
+
 # disable deprecation warnings for classes re-exporting deprecated methods
 IF(MSVC)
   SET_SOURCE_FILES_PROPERTIES(
diff --git a/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.cpp b/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.cpp
index 79d800045be..90dd9a9a6b5 100644
--- a/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.cpp
@@ -18,8 +18,12 @@
 #include "qgsapplication.h"
 #include "qgssourceselectprovider.h"
 #include "qgspointcloudsourceselect.h"
+
 #include "qgseptproviderguimetadata.h"
+
+#ifdef HAVE_EPT
 #include "qgseptdataitemguiprovider.h"
+#endif
 
 ///@cond PRIVATE
 
@@ -42,11 +46,13 @@ QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata::QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata()
 {
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_EPT
 QList<QgsDataItemGuiProvider *> QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata::dataItemGuiProviders()
 {
   return QList<QgsDataItemGuiProvider *>()
          << new QgsEptDataItemGuiProvider;
 }
+#endif
 
 QList<QgsSourceSelectProvider *> QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata::sourceSelectProviders()
 {
diff --git a/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.h b/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.h
index b53613c0143..634667c1b2a 100644
--- a/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.h
+++ b/src/gui/providers/ept/qgseptproviderguimetadata.h
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ class QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata: public QgsProviderGuiMetadata
   public:
     QgsEptProviderGuiMetadata();
 
+#ifdef HAVE_EPT
     QList<QgsDataItemGuiProvider *> dataItemGuiProviders() override;
+#endif
+
+    // for now we always include the "ept" provider source select provider, as it actually
+    // forms the generic point cloud source select widget
     QList<QgsSourceSelectProvider *> sourceSelectProviders() override;
 };
 
diff --git a/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
index 64cea4d3744..c3ee8577205 100644
--- a/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/metadata
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/pal
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/pointcloud
-  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/providers/ept
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/raster
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/symbology
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/effects
@@ -24,7 +23,6 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/arcgisrest
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/mdal
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/ogr
-  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/ept
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/test
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/external
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/external/nlohmann
@@ -106,11 +104,20 @@ ADD_QGIS_TEST(postgresconntest testqgspostgresconn.cpp)
 TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_postgresconntest postgresprovider_a qgis_core)
 
 IF (NOT FORCE_STATIC_PROVIDERS)
-  ADD_QGIS_TEST(eptprovidertest testqgseptprovider.cpp)
   ADD_QGIS_TEST(mdalprovidertest testqgsmdalprovider.cpp)
 ENDIF (NOT FORCE_STATIC_PROVIDERS)
 
+IF (WITH_EPT)
+  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
+    ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/providers/ept
+  )
+  ADD_QGIS_TEST(eptprovidertest testqgseptprovider.cpp)
+ENDIF(WITH_EPT)
+
 IF (WITH_PDAL)
+  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
+    ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/pdal
+  )
   ADD_QGIS_TEST(pdalprovidertest testqgspdalprovider.cpp)
   TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_pdalprovidertest pdalprovider_a qgis_core)
 ENDIF(WITH_PDAL)
diff --git a/tests/src/providers/testqgspdalprovider.cpp b/tests/src/providers/testqgspdalprovider.cpp
index 3dd698725f2..3cdf0fbd73c 100644
--- a/tests/src/providers/testqgspdalprovider.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/providers/testqgspdalprovider.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include "qgis.h"
 #include "qgsapplication.h"
 #include "qgsproviderregistry.h"
-#include "qgseptprovider.h"
+#include "qgspdalprovider.h"
 #include "qgsmaplayer.h"
 
 /**