diff --git a/RepositoryModule_host.mk b/RepositoryModule_host.mk
index f87b6b45a1c3..5c7b49fe841c 100644
--- a/RepositoryModule_host.mk
+++ b/RepositoryModule_host.mk
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ $(eval $(call gb_Module_add_moduledirs,libreoffice,\
 	jvmaccess \
 	jvmfwk \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,LANGUAGETOOL,languagetool) \
-	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CDR,libcdr) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,LIBEXTTEXTCAT,libexttextcat) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,LIBLANGTAG,liblangtag) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,MSPUB,libmspub) \
diff --git a/external/Module_external.mk b/external/Module_external.mk
index 44dadc582b9e..811079fde7ae 100644
--- a/external/Module_external.mk
+++ b/external/Module_external.mk
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ $(eval $(call gb_Module_add_moduledirs,external,\
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,BOOST,boost) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,BSH,beanshell) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CAIRO,cairo) \
+	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CDR,libcdr) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CLUCENE,clucene) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CMIS,libcmis) \
 	$(call gb_Helper_optional,CPPUNIT,cppunit) \
diff --git a/libcdr/ExternalProject_libcdr.mk b/external/libcdr/ExternalProject_libcdr.mk
similarity index 100%
rename from libcdr/ExternalProject_libcdr.mk
rename to external/libcdr/ExternalProject_libcdr.mk
diff --git a/libcdr/Makefile b/external/libcdr/Makefile
similarity index 71%
rename from libcdr/Makefile
rename to external/libcdr/Makefile
index ccb1c85a04da..e4968cf85fb6 100644
--- a/libcdr/Makefile
+++ b/external/libcdr/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 
 module_directory:=$(dir $(realpath $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 
-include $(module_directory)/../solenv/gbuild/partial_build.mk
+include $(module_directory)/../../solenv/gbuild/partial_build.mk
 
 # vim: set noet sw=4 ts=4:
diff --git a/libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk b/external/libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk
similarity index 93%
rename from libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk
rename to external/libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk
index 5e5726d72b08..5f8acd374875 100644
--- a/libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk
+++ b/external/libcdr/Module_libcdr.mk
@@ -9,13 +9,9 @@
 
 $(eval $(call gb_Module_Module,libcdr))
 
-ifeq ($(SYSTEM_CDR),NO)
-
 $(eval $(call gb_Module_add_targets,libcdr,\
 	ExternalProject_libcdr \
 	UnpackedTarball_libcdr \
 ))
 
-endif
-
 # vim: set noet sw=4 ts=4:
diff --git a/libcdr/README b/external/libcdr/README
similarity index 100%
rename from libcdr/README
rename to external/libcdr/README
diff --git a/libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk b/external/libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk
similarity index 91%
rename from libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk
rename to external/libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk
index d25d241b22e6..dff6a573a4c6 100644
--- a/libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk
+++ b/external/libcdr/UnpackedTarball_libcdr.mk
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ $(eval $(call gb_UnpackedTarball_UnpackedTarball,libcdr))
 $(eval $(call gb_UnpackedTarball_set_tarball,libcdr,$(CDR_TARBALL)))
 
 $(eval $(call gb_UnpackedTarball_add_patches,libcdr,\
-	libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1 \
+	external/libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1 \
 ))
 
 # vim: set noet sw=4 ts=4:
diff --git a/libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1 b/external/libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1
similarity index 100%
rename from libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1
rename to external/libcdr/libcdr-wpx_seek_end.patch.1