diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fdec31a0a..8c26404a8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ set(BUSTUB_THIRD_PARTY_INCLUDE_DIR
 
 include_directories(${BUSTUB_SRC_INCLUDE_DIR} ${BUSTUB_TEST_INCLUDE_DIR} ${BUSTUB_THIRD_PARTY_INCLUDE_DIR})
 include_directories(BEFORE src) # This is needed for gtest.
+# This ensures that the bundled headers are searched before system paths
+if (EXISTS "/usr/local/include/gtest" OR EXISTS "/opt/homebrew/include/gtest")
+        message(STATUS "System googletest detected, prioritizing bundled version")
+        include_directories(BEFORE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/googletest/googletest/include)
+        include_directories(BEFORE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/googletest/googlemock/include)
+endif()
 
 function(disable_target_warnings NAME)
         target_compile_options(${NAME} PRIVATE "-w")
diff --git a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
index 03dd8ce05..5440e4668 100644
--- a/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ add_subdirectory(murmur3)
 add_subdirectory(libpg_query)
 
 set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE) # don't override our compiler/linker options when building gtest
+if (EXISTS "/usr/local/include/gtest" OR EXISTS "/opt/homebrew/include/gtest")
+    message(STATUS "System googletest detected, prioritizing bundled version")
+# Prevent system googletest headers from being used - add our include paths with higher priority
+    include_directories(BEFORE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/googletest/googletest/include)
+    include_directories(BEFORE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/googletest/googlemock/include)
+endif()
 add_subdirectory(googletest)
 
 add_subdirectory(fmt)
diff --git a/third_party/googletest/googlemock/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/googletest/googlemock/CMakeLists.txt
index a9aa0723f..ebae68296 100644
--- a/third_party/googletest/googlemock/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/googletest/googlemock/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -102,12 +102,23 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 string(REPLACE ";" "$<SEMICOLON>" dirs "${gmock_build_include_dirs}")
-target_include_directories(gmock SYSTEM INTERFACE
-  "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
-  "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
-target_include_directories(gmock_main SYSTEM INTERFACE
-  "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
-  "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+if (EXISTS "/usr/local/include/gtest" OR EXISTS "/opt/homebrew/include/gtest")
+  message(STATUS "System googletest detected, prioritizing bundled version")
+  # Don't add SYSTEM as CMake uses -isystem compiler flag which will override the bundled headers & use system specific headers
+  target_include_directories(gmock INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+  target_include_directories(gmock_main INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+else()
+  target_include_directories(gmock SYSTEM INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+  target_include_directories(gmock_main SYSTEM INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+endif()
 
 ########################################################################
 #
diff --git a/third_party/googletest/googletest/CMakeLists.txt b/third_party/googletest/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
index caafa8c76..261569cf6 100644
--- a/third_party/googletest/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/third_party/googletest/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -141,12 +141,23 @@ endif()
 cxx_library(gtest_main "${cxx_strict}" src/gtest_main.cc)
 set_target_properties(gtest_main PROPERTIES VERSION ${GOOGLETEST_VERSION})
 string(REPLACE ";" "$<SEMICOLON>" dirs "${gtest_build_include_dirs}")
-target_include_directories(gtest SYSTEM INTERFACE
-  "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
-  "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
-target_include_directories(gtest_main SYSTEM INTERFACE
-  "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
-  "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+if (EXISTS "/usr/local/include/gtest" OR EXISTS "/opt/homebrew/include/gtest")
+  message(STATUS "System googletest detected, prioritizing bundled version")
+  # Don't add SYSTEM as CMake uses -isystem compiler flag which will override the bundled headers & use system specific headers
+  target_include_directories(gtest INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+  target_include_directories(gtest_main INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+else()
+  target_include_directories(gtest SYSTEM INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+  target_include_directories(gtest_main SYSTEM INTERFACE
+    "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dirs}>"
+    "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:$<INSTALL_PREFIX>/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>")
+endif()
 if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "QNX")
   target_link_libraries(gtest PUBLIC regex)
 endif()