diff --git a/rmw_implementation/CMakeLists.txt b/rmw_implementation/CMakeLists.txt
index 1f69a8bb..28201fdb 100644
--- a/rmw_implementation/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rmw_implementation/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,11 +29,19 @@ message(STATUS "")
 message(STATUS "Default rmw implementation: '${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}'")
 message(STATUS "")
 
+get_available_rmw_implementations(available_rmw_implementations)
+list(LENGTH available_rmw_implementations count_available_rmw_implementations)
+if(count_available_rmw_implementations EQUAL 1)
+  set(rmw_implementation_baked_default ON)
+else()
+  set(rmw_implementation_baked_default OFF)
+endif()
+
 option(RMW_IMPLEMENTATION_BAKED "\
   Use only the RMW implementation specified at build time, \
   ignoring runtime value of the 'RMW_IMPLEMENTATION' environment variable \
   and the 'RMW_IMPLEMENTATION' CMake option"
-  OFF)
+  ${rmw_implementation_baked_default})
 
 if(RMW_IMPLEMENTATION_BAKED)
   message(STATUS "Dynamic loading disabled; directly referencing '${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}'")
diff --git a/rmw_implementation/rmw_implementation-extras.cmake.in b/rmw_implementation/rmw_implementation-extras.cmake.in
index 1dd32195..90b4c9ec 100644
--- a/rmw_implementation/rmw_implementation-extras.cmake.in
+++ b/rmw_implementation/rmw_implementation-extras.cmake.in
@@ -16,8 +16,27 @@
 
 find_package(rmw_implementation_cmake REQUIRED)
 
-if(RMW_IMPLEMENTATION_BAKED)
+if(NOT "${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}" STREQUAL "")
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation "${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}")
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "CMake")
+elseif(NOT "$ENV{RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}" STREQUAL "")
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation "$ENV{RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}")
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "environment variable 'RMW_IMPLEMENTATION'")
+else()
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation "@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@")
+  set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "the default when @PROJECT_NAME@ was built")
+endif()
+
+if(@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION_BAKED@)
   message(STATUS "Using RMW implementation '@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@'")
+  if(NOT requested_rmw_implementation STREQUAL @RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@)
+    message(ERROR
+      "The RMW implementation has been specified as "
+      "'${requested_rmw_implementation}' via ${requested_rmw_implementation_from}, "
+      "but rmw_implementation was built without dynamic linking enabled. We will use "
+      "'@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@'".
+    )
+  endif()
   find_package("@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@" REQUIRED)
 
   # TODO should never need definitions and include dirs?
@@ -25,16 +44,6 @@ if(RMW_IMPLEMENTATION_BAKED)
   list(APPEND rmw_implementation_INCLUDE_DIRS ${@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@_INCLUDE_DIRS})
   list(APPEND rmw_implementation_LIBRARIES ${@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@_LIBRARIES})
 else()
-  if(NOT "${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}" STREQUAL "")
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation "${RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}")
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "CMake")
-  elseif(NOT "$ENV{RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}" STREQUAL "")
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation "$ENV{RMW_IMPLEMENTATION}")
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "environment variable 'RMW_IMPLEMENTATION'")
-  else()
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation "@RMW_IMPLEMENTATION@")
-    set(requested_rmw_implementation_from "the default when @PROJECT_NAME@ was built")
-  endif()
 
   get_available_rmw_implementations(available_rmw_implementations)