diff --git a/OSCAR_QT.pro b/OSCAR_QT.pro
index df4e72bb..a9aa515c 100644
--- a/OSCAR_QT.pro
+++ b/OSCAR_QT.pro
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
-lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)|lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,9) {
-    message("You need to Qt 5.9 or newer to build OSCAR with Help Pages")
-    lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)|lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,7) {
-        error("You need Qt 5.7 or newer to build OSCAR")
+lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5) {
+    error("You need Qt 5.7 or newer to build OSCAR");
+}
+
+if (equals(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)) {
+    lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,9) {
+        message("You need Qt 5.9 to build OSCAR with Help Pages")
+    }
+    lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,7) {
+        error("You need Qt 5.7 or newer to build OSCAR");
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/oscar/oscar.pro b/oscar/oscar.pro
index eb704b56..b2f8e977 100644
--- a/oscar/oscar.pro
+++ b/oscar/oscar.pro
@@ -6,14 +6,20 @@
 
 message(Platform is $$QMAKESPEC )
 
-lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)|lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,9) {
-    message("You need Qt 5.9 to build OSCAR with Help Pages")
-    DEFINES += helpless
-}
-lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)|lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,7) {
+lessThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5) {
     error("You need Qt 5.7 or newer to build OSCAR");
 }
 
+if (equals(QT_MAJOR_VERSION,5)) {
+    lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,9) {
+        message("You need Qt 5.9 to build OSCAR with Help Pages")
+        DEFINES += helpless
+    }
+    lessThan(QT_MINOR_VERSION,7) {
+        error("You need Qt 5.7 or newer to build OSCAR");
+    }
+}
+
 # get rid of the help browser, at least for now
 DEFINES += helpless