diff --git a/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake b/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f049156d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# Copyright (c) 2021-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+# in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+# is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+# or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+# the License.
+# =============================================================================
+#
+# This is the preferred entry point for projects using rapids-cmake
+#
+# Enforce the minimum required CMake version for all users
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.30.4 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+# Allow users to control which version is used
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-version OR NOT rapids-cmake-version MATCHES [[^([0-9][0-9])\.([0-9][0-9])$]])
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR "The CMake variable rapids-cmake-version must be defined in the format MAJOR.MINOR."
+  )
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control which GitHub repo is fetched
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-repo)
+  # Define a default repo if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-repo rapidsai/rapids-cmake)
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control which branch is fetched
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-branch)
+  # Define a default branch if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-branch "branch-${rapids-cmake-version}")
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control the exact URL passed to FetchContent
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-url)
+  # Construct a default URL if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-url "https://github.com/${rapids-cmake-repo}/")
+
+  # In order of specificity
+  if(rapids-cmake-fetch-via-git)
+    if(rapids-cmake-sha)
+      # An exact git SHA takes precedence over anything
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-sha}")
+    elseif(rapids-cmake-tag)
+      # Followed by a git tag name
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-tag}")
+    else()
+      # Or if neither of the above two were defined, use a branch
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-branch}")
+    endif()
+  else()
+    if(rapids-cmake-sha)
+      # An exact git SHA takes precedence over anything
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/${rapids-cmake-sha}.zip")
+    elseif(rapids-cmake-tag)
+      # Followed by a git tag name
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/refs/tags/${rapids-cmake-tag}.zip")
+    else()
+      # Or if neither of the above two were defined, use a branch
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/refs/heads/${rapids-cmake-branch}.zip")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+include(FetchContent)
+if(rapids-cmake-fetch-via-git)
+  FetchContent_Declare(
+    rapids-cmake
+    GIT_REPOSITORY "${rapids-cmake-url}"
+    GIT_TAG "${rapids-cmake-value-to-clone}")
+else()
+  string(APPEND rapids-cmake-url "${rapids-cmake-value-to-clone}")
+  FetchContent_Declare(rapids-cmake URL "${rapids-cmake-url}")
+endif()
+FetchContent_GetProperties(rapids-cmake)
+if(rapids-cmake_POPULATED)
+  # Something else has already populated rapids-cmake, only thing we need to do is setup the
+  # CMAKE_MODULE_PATH
+  if(NOT "${rapids-cmake-dir}" IN_LIST CMAKE_MODULE_PATH)
+    list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${rapids-cmake-dir}")
+  endif()
+else()
+  FetchContent_MakeAvailable(rapids-cmake)
+endif()
diff --git a/rapids_config.cmake b/cmake/rapids_config.cmake
similarity index 69%
rename from rapids_config.cmake
rename to cmake/rapids_config.cmake
index f064a5b497..5aa8e55017 100644
--- a/rapids_config.cmake
+++ b/cmake/rapids_config.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # =============================================================================
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# Copyright (c) 2018-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 # in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 # or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
 # the License.
 # =============================================================================
-file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/VERSION" _rapids_version)
+file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../VERSION" _rapids_version)
 if(_rapids_version MATCHES [[^([0-9][0-9])\.([0-9][0-9])\.([0-9][0-9])]])
   set(RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR "${CMAKE_MATCH_1}")
   set(RAPIDS_VERSION_MINOR "${CMAKE_MATCH_2}")
@@ -22,15 +22,8 @@ else()
   string(REPLACE "\n" "\n  " _rapids_version_formatted "  ${_rapids_version}")
   message(
     FATAL_ERROR
-      "Could not determine RAPIDS version. Contents of VERSION file:\n${_rapids_version_formatted}"
-  )
+      "Could not determine RAPIDS version. Contents of VERSION file:\n${_rapids_version_formatted}")
 endif()
 
-if(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/CUML_RAPIDS-${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}.cmake")
-  file(
-    DOWNLOAD
-    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapidsai/rapids-cmake/branch-${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}/RAPIDS.cmake"
-    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/CUML_RAPIDS-${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}.cmake"
-  )
-endif()
-include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/CUML_RAPIDS-${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}.cmake")
+set(rapids-cmake-version "${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}")
+include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/RAPIDS.cmake")
diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 57771fa4eb..0c8e124ee4 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.30.4 FATAL_ERROR)
 
-include(../rapids_config.cmake)
+include(../cmake/rapids_config.cmake)
 
 include(rapids-cmake)
 include(rapids-cpm)
diff --git a/python/cuml/CMakeLists.txt b/python/cuml/CMakeLists.txt
index 161971ca51..1dd2229d52 100644
--- a/python/cuml/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/cuml/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.30.4 FATAL_ERROR)
 
-include(../../rapids_config.cmake)
+include(../../cmake/rapids_config.cmake)
 
 option(CUML_CPU "Build only cuML CPU Python components." OFF)
 set(language_list "CXX")
diff --git a/python/libcuml/CMakeLists.txt b/python/libcuml/CMakeLists.txt
index 6b22cf1003..e53a0f8476 100644
--- a/python/libcuml/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/libcuml/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.30.4 FATAL_ERROR)
 
-include(../../rapids_config.cmake)
+include(../../cmake/rapids_config.cmake)
 
 include(rapids-cuda)
 rapids_cuda_init_architectures(libcuml-python)