diff --git a/cmake/xo-bootstrap-macros.cmake b/cmake/xo-bootstrap-macros.cmake
index 4f8517c1..e93f89bc 100644
--- a/cmake/xo-bootstrap-macros.cmake
+++ b/cmake/xo-bootstrap-macros.cmake
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ endif()
 message(STATUS "XO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=${XO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE}")
 
 if (("${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH}" STREQUAL "") OR ("${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH}" STREQUAL prefix))
+    message(STATUS "call XO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE to get CMAKE_MODULE_PATH");
     # default to typical install location for xo-project-macros
     execute_process(COMMAND ${XO_CMAKE_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE} --cmake-module-path OUTPUT_VARIABLE CMAKE_MODULE_PATH)
+else()
+    message(STATUS "use already-defined CMAKE_MODULE_PATH=[${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH}]")
 endif()
 
 if (NOT XO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)