diff --git a/Help/variable/CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION.rst b/Help/variable/CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION.rst
index 639284963..e0be3a43e 100644
--- a/Help/variable/CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION.rst
+++ b/Help/variable/CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION.rst
@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ specification of a target Windows version to select a corresponding SDK.
 The :variable:`CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION` variable may be set to specify a
 version.  Otherwise CMake computes a default version based on the Windows
 SDK versions available.  The chosen Windows target version number is provided
-in ``CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION``.
+in ``CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION``.  If no Windows 10 SDK
+is available this value will be empty.
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.cxx
index f151d80fa..c058f8ce4 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.cxx
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ bool cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator::InitializeWindows(cmMakefile* mf)
 {
   if (cmHasLiteralPrefix(this->SystemVersion, "10.0"))
     {
-    return this->SelectWindows10SDK(mf);
+    return this->SelectWindows10SDK(mf, false);
     }
   return true;
 }
@@ -145,17 +145,18 @@ bool cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator::InitializeWindowsStore(cmMakefile* mf)
     }
   if (cmHasLiteralPrefix(this->SystemVersion, "10.0"))
     {
-    return this->SelectWindows10SDK(mf);
+    return this->SelectWindows10SDK(mf, true);
     }
   return true;
 }
 
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-bool cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator::SelectWindows10SDK(cmMakefile* mf)
+bool cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator::SelectWindows10SDK(cmMakefile* mf,
+                                                         bool required)
 {
   // Find the default version of the Windows 10 SDK.
   this->WindowsTargetPlatformVersion = this->GetWindows10SDKVersion();
-  if (this->WindowsTargetPlatformVersion.empty())
+  if (required && this->WindowsTargetPlatformVersion.empty())
     {
     std::ostringstream  e;
     e << "Could not find an appropriate version of the Windows 10 SDK"
diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.h b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.h
index 76c15d99c..57e628418 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.h
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio14Generator.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ protected:
   bool IsWindowsStoreToolsetInstalled() const;
 
   virtual const char* GetIDEVersion() { return "14.0"; }
-  virtual bool SelectWindows10SDK(cmMakefile* mf);
+  virtual bool SelectWindows10SDK(cmMakefile* mf, bool required);
 
   // Used to verify that the Desktop toolset for the current generator is
   // installed on the machine.