diff --git a/cmake/QtBaseHelpers.cmake b/cmake/QtBaseHelpers.cmake
index 63e445e3469..4b48f8f1766 100644
--- a/cmake/QtBaseHelpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/QtBaseHelpers.cmake
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ macro(qt_internal_qtbase_build_repo)
     endif()
 
     if(NOT QT_INTERNAL_BUILD_STANDALONE_PARTS)
-        if(QT_WILL_BUILD_TOOLS AND QT_FEATURE_settings)
+        if(QT_FEATURE_settings)
             add_subdirectory(qmake)
         endif()
 
diff --git a/qmake/CMakeLists.txt b/qmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 78e85c76964..28c91af6d31 100644
--- a/qmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/qmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -103,6 +103,19 @@ qt_internal_add_tool(${target_name}
         generators/win32/msvc_objectmodel.cpp # xml symbols clash with generators/win32/msbuild_objectmodel.cpp
         library/qmakeparser.cpp               # struct statics clashes with qmakeevaluator_p.h
 )
+
+# When we don't build tools, we still want to be able to build the documentation.
+# Add a fake interface library to make sure the documentation target is created.
+# We use the direct name rather than ${target_name} to ensure the doc target keeps
+# the original name even when cross-building.
+if(NOT TARGET qmake)
+    add_library(qmake INTERFACE)
+endif()
+
+qt_internal_add_docs(qmake
+    doc/qmake.qdocconf
+)
+
 qt_internal_return_unless_building_tools()
 
 # Add QMAKE_VERSION_STR only if qmake is part of the build.
@@ -137,6 +150,3 @@ set_target_properties(${target_name} PROPERTIES
 qt_internal_apply_gc_binaries(${target_name} PRIVATE)
 qt_skip_warnings_are_errors(${target_name})
 
-qt_internal_add_docs(${target_name}
-    doc/qmake.qdocconf
-)