diff --git a/backends/trtllm/CMakeLists.txt b/backends/trtllm/CMakeLists.txt
index 46f5d079..5eb8c937 100644
--- a/backends/trtllm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/backends/trtllm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ set(TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_TRT_INCLUDE_DIR "${TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_TRT_ROOT}/include"
 set(TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_TRT_LIB_DIR "${TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_TRT_ROOT}/lib" CACHE PATH "Path where TensorRT libraries are located")
 
 #### External dependencies ####
+include(cmake/fmt.cmake)
 include(cmake/json.cmake)
 include(cmake/spdlog.cmake)
 include(cmake/trtllm.cmake)
@@ -31,15 +32,17 @@ target_include_directories(tgi_trtllm_backend_impl PRIVATE
 )
 target_include_directories(tgi_trtllm_backend_impl PUBLIC "${trtllm_SOURCE_DIR}/cpp/include")
 target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_impl PRIVATE tensorrt_llm nvinfer_plugin_tensorrt_llm CUDA::nvml)
-target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_impl PUBLIC nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog)
+target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_impl PUBLIC nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt)
 
 if (${TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_BUILD_EXAMPLES})
     add_executable(tgi_trtllm_backend_example bin/example.cpp)
     target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_example PRIVATE tensorrt_llm nvinfer_plugin_tensorrt_llm tgi_trtllm_backend_impl)
-    target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_example PUBLIC nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog)
+    target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_example PUBLIC nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt)
 endif ()
 
-install(TARGETS tgi_trtllm_backend_impl tensorrt_llm nvinfer_plugin_tensorrt_llm spdlog)
+# TODO: need to find why we can't install fmt (include not found...)
+#install(TARGETS tgi_trtllm_backend_impl tensorrt_llm nvinfer_plugin_tensorrt_llm spdlog fmt)
+install(TARGETS tgi_trtllm_backend_impl tensorrt_llm nvinfer_plugin_tensorrt_llm)
 
 #### Unit Tests ####
 if (${TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_BUILD_TESTS})
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ if (${TGI_TRTLLM_BACKEND_BUILD_TESTS})
     FetchContent_MakeAvailable(Catch2)
 
     add_executable(tgi_trtllm_backend_tests tests/infer_test.cpp)
-    target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_tests PRIVATE tgi_trtllm_backend_impl Catch2::Catch2WithMain nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog)
+    target_link_libraries(tgi_trtllm_backend_tests PRIVATE tgi_trtllm_backend_impl Catch2::Catch2WithMain nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json spdlog::spdlog fmt::fmt)
 
     list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${catch2_SOURCE_DIR}/extras)
     include(CTest)
diff --git a/backends/trtllm/cmake/fmt.cmake b/backends/trtllm/cmake/fmt.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f94a9c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backends/trtllm/cmake/fmt.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+FetchContent_Declare(
+        fmt
+        GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt
+        GIT_TAG 11.0.1
+)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(fmt)
diff --git a/backends/trtllm/cmake/spdlog.cmake b/backends/trtllm/cmake/spdlog.cmake
index 4720fbbf..c4ee5c97 100644
--- a/backends/trtllm/cmake/spdlog.cmake
+++ b/backends/trtllm/cmake/spdlog.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 set(SPDLOG_USE_FMT ON)
 set(SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED OFF)
+set(SPDLOG_FMT_EXTERNAL ON)
 
 # Define the level at which SPDLOG_ compilation level is defined
 if (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} STREQUAL "Debug")
@@ -14,4 +15,3 @@ fetchcontent_declare(
         GIT_TAG v1.14.1
 )
 fetchcontent_makeavailable(spdlog)
-include_directories("${spdlog_SOURCE_DIR}/include")
\ No newline at end of file