diff --git a/samples/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/samples/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 4c9ebc56f51..47f629506eb 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/samples/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -140,8 +140,13 @@ if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/cnpy")
     add_subdirectory(thirdparty/cnpy EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
 endif()
 
-if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/json")
-    add_subdirectory(thirdparty/json EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+if(NOT TARGET nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json)
+    find_package(nlohmann_json QUIET)
+    if(nlohmann_json_FOUND)
+        message(STATUS "nlohmann_json (${nlohmann_json_VERSION}) is found at ${nlohmann_json_DIR}")
+    elseif(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/nlohmann_json")
+        add_subdirectory(thirdparty/json EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/common/utils")
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 037a72b150e..fdff11134ae 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ add_subdirectory(common)
 add_subdirectory(core)
 add_subdirectory(frontends)
 # TODO: remove ngraph/ngraph.hpp usage
-add_subdirectory(core/tests)
+if(ENABLE_TESTS)
+    add_subdirectory(core/tests)
+endif()
 add_subdirectory(bindings)
 
 if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX)
diff --git a/src/frontends/CMakeLists.txt b/src/frontends/CMakeLists.txt
index d0509d1b658..491b2e9bf57 100644
--- a/src/frontends/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/frontends/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ if(ENABLE_LTO)
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory(common)
-add_subdirectory(tests)
+
+if(ENABLE_TESTS)
+    add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
 
 if(ENABLE_OV_ONNX_FRONTEND)
     add_subdirectory(onnx)
diff --git a/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
index dbe374f5b26..3dd79eb9d06 100644
--- a/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -157,18 +157,13 @@ endif()
 # nlohmann json
 #
 
-# find_package(nlohmann_json QUIET)
-# if(nlohmann_json_FOUND)
-#     nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json
-# else()
-    add_subdirectory(json)
+add_subdirectory(json)
 
-    openvino_developer_export_targets(COMPONENT openvino_common
-                                      TARGETS nlohmann_json nlohmann_json_schema_validator)
+openvino_developer_export_targets(COMPONENT openvino_common
+                                  TARGETS nlohmann_json nlohmann_json_schema_validator)
 
-    ov_install_static_lib(nlohmann_json openvino_common)
-    ov_install_static_lib(nlohmann_json_schema_validator openvino_common)
-# endif()
+ov_install_static_lib(nlohmann_json openvino_common)
+ov_install_static_lib(nlohmann_json_schema_validator openvino_common)
 
 #
 # Install