diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0c2e8872a..5d24c1386 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ foreach(_module ${PRISMS_PF_MODULES})
 endforeach()
 
 message(STATUS "Using PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB = '${PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB}'")
+message(STATUS "Using PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK = '${PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK}'")
 message(STATUS "Using PRISMS_PF_WITH_HDF5 = '${PRISMS_PF_WITH_HDF5}'")
 message(STATUS "Using PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS = '${PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS}'")
 message(STATUS "Using PRISMS_PF_WITH_CUDA = '${PRISMS_PF_WITH_CUDA}'")
diff --git a/cmake/modules/FindPRISMS_PF_VTK.cmake b/cmake/modules/FindPRISMS_PF_VTK.cmake
index bd3157fef..144b01044 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/FindPRISMS_PF_VTK.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/FindPRISMS_PF_VTK.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 # If deal.II wasn't built with VTK we have to check for the installation
 # elsewhere
-if(NOT DEAL_II_WITH_VTK)
+if(NOT DEAL_II_WITH_VTK AND PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK)
     message(
         STATUS
         "deal.II wasn't built with VTK, checking for separate installation"
diff --git a/cmake/prisms_pf_config.cmake.in b/cmake/prisms_pf_config.cmake.in
index dc7dc9698..66c20770c 100644
--- a/cmake/prisms_pf_config.cmake.in
+++ b/cmake/prisms_pf_config.cmake.in
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # PRISMS-PF configuration variables
 
 set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_CALIPER @PRISMS_PF_WITH_CALIPER@ CACHE BOOL "Whether Caliper is enabled" FORCE)
+set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK @PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK@ CACHE BOOL "Whether VTK is enabled" FORCE)
 set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB @PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB@ CACHE BOOL "Whether zlib is enabled" FORCE)
 set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS @PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS@ CACHE BOOL "Whether SUNDIALS is enabled" FORCE)
-set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_CUDA @PRISMS_PF_WTIH_CUDA@ CACHE BOOL "Whether CUDA is enabled" FORCE) 
\ No newline at end of file
+set(PRISMS_PF_WITH_CUDA @PRISMS_PF_WTIH_CUDA@ CACHE BOOL "Whether CUDA is enabled" FORCE) 
diff --git a/cmake/setup_prisms_pf.cmake b/cmake/setup_prisms_pf.cmake
index 8f38af432..e05a6e994 100644
--- a/cmake/setup_prisms_pf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/setup_prisms_pf.cmake
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ option(
     ON
 )
 
+option(
+    PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK
+    "Whether the user wants to compiler PRISMS-PF with vtk, or not"
+    OFF
+)
+
 option(
     PRISMS_PF_WITH_HDF5
     "Whether the user wants to compile PRISMS-PF with deal.II's HDF5 dependency, or not."
diff --git a/cmake/write_config.cmake b/cmake/write_config.cmake
index 2778e23b8..75f2ef6cd 100644
--- a/cmake/write_config.cmake
+++ b/cmake/write_config.cmake
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ write_to_both("#
 #    PRISMS_PF_AUTODETECTION: ${PRISMS_PF_AUTODETECTION}
 #
 #    PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB:      ${PRISMS_PF_WITH_ZLIB}
+#    PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK:       ${PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK}
 #    PRISMS_PF_WITH_HDF5:      ${PRISMS_PF_WITH_HDF5}
 #    PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS:  ${PRISMS_PF_WITH_SUNDIALS}
 #    PRISMS_PF_WITH_CALIPER:   ${PRISMS_PF_WITH_CALIPER}
diff --git a/doc/doxygen/CMakeLists.txt b/doc/doxygen/CMakeLists.txt
index c8dc43e83..c366a5ea2 100644
--- a/doc/doxygen/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/doc/doxygen/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.27)
 cmake_policy(VERSION 3.27)
 
 # Grab the version of PRISMS-PF
-file(STRINGS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../../VERSION" PRISMS_PF_VERSION LIMIT_COUNT 1)
+file(
+    STRINGS
+    "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../../VERSION"
+    PRISMS_PF_VERSION
+    LIMIT_COUNT 1
+)
 
 message(STATUS "")
 message(STATUS "=========================================================")
diff --git a/include/prismspf/field_input/read_field_factory.h b/include/prismspf/field_input/read_field_factory.h
index 2ba7ccf20..408a5930b 100644
--- a/include/prismspf/field_input/read_field_factory.h
+++ b/include/prismspf/field_input/read_field_factory.h
@@ -14,12 +14,9 @@
 
 #include <prismspf/field_input/read_binary.h>
 #include <prismspf/field_input/read_field_base.h>
-#include <prismspf/field_input/read_vtk.h>
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#else
-#  include <deal.II/base/exceptions.h>
+#ifdef PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK
+#  include <prismspf/field_input/read_vtk.h>
 #endif
 
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
@@ -43,8 +40,16 @@ create_reader(const InitialConditionFile       &ic_file,
   switch (ic_file.dataset_format)
     {
       case DataFormatType::VTKUnstructuredGrid:
+#ifdef PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK
         return std::make_shared<ReadUnstructuredVTK<dim, number>>(ic_file,
                                                                   spatial_discretization);
+#else
+        AssertThrow(false,
+                    dealii::ExcMessage(
+                      "You are trying to read a VTK file as an input; however, PRISMS-PF "
+                      "was not built with VTK. Please reconfig PRISMS-PF with VTK using "
+                      "-D PRISMS_PF_WITH_VTK=ON"));
+#endif
       case DataFormatType::FlatBinary:
         return std::make_shared<ReadBinary<dim, number>>(ic_file, spatial_discretization);
       default:
@@ -52,4 +57,4 @@ create_reader(const InitialConditionFile       &ic_file,
     }
 }
 
-PRISMS_PF_END_NAMESPACE
\ No newline at end of file
+PRISMS_PF_END_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/src/core/timer.cc b/src/core/timer.cc
index 2c1877933..4a5537782 100644
--- a/src/core/timer.cc
+++ b/src/core/timer.cc
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@
 #  include <caliper/cali.h>
 #endif
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#endif
-
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 
 void
@@ -96,4 +92,4 @@ Timer::print_summary()
     }
 }
 
-PRISMS_PF_END_NAMESPACE
\ No newline at end of file
+PRISMS_PF_END_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/src/core/variable_attribute_loader.cc b/src/core/variable_attribute_loader.cc
index 81e425fbc..46fff1134 100644
--- a/src/core/variable_attribute_loader.cc
+++ b/src/core/variable_attribute_loader.cc
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#endif
-
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 
 void
diff --git a/src/core/variable_attributes.cc b/src/core/variable_attributes.cc
index 716e5d25e..237f6f955 100644
--- a/src/core/variable_attributes.cc
+++ b/src/core/variable_attributes.cc
@@ -21,10 +21,6 @@
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#endif
-
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 
 void
diff --git a/src/user_inputs/input_file_reader.cc b/src/user_inputs/input_file_reader.cc
index 6ba3bd315..250eb151d 100644
--- a/src/user_inputs/input_file_reader.cc
+++ b/src/user_inputs/input_file_reader.cc
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#endif
-
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 
 InputFileReader::InputFileReader(
diff --git a/src/user_inputs/user_input_parameters.cc b/src/user_inputs/user_input_parameters.cc
index a59db2f8d..12e378f55 100644
--- a/src/user_inputs/user_input_parameters.cc
+++ b/src/user_inputs/user_input_parameters.cc
@@ -26,12 +26,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
-#if DEAL_II_VERSION_MAJOR >= 9 && DEAL_II_VERSION_MINOR >= 7
-#  include <deal.II/base/exception_macros.h>
-#else
-#  include <deal.II/base/exceptions.h>
-#endif
-
 PRISMS_PF_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 
 template <unsigned int dim>