diff --git chrome/common/chrome_content_client.cc chrome/common/chrome_content_client.cc
index fb0059b3e652..452f58ab4a0a 100644
--- chrome/common/chrome_content_client.cc
+++ chrome/common/chrome_content_client.cc
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@
 // Registers Widevine CDM if Widevine is enabled, the Widevine CDM is
 // bundled and not a component. When the Widevine CDM is a component, it is
 // registered in widevine_cdm_component_installer.cc.
-#if BUILDFLAG(BUNDLE_WIDEVINE_CDM) && !BUILDFLAG(ENABLE_WIDEVINE_CDM_COMPONENT)
+#if BUILDFLAG(BUNDLE_WIDEVINE_CDM) && !BUILDFLAG(ENABLE_WIDEVINE_CDM_COMPONENT) && \
+    defined(WIDEVINE_CDM_VERSION_STRING)
 #define REGISTER_BUNDLED_WIDEVINE_CDM
 #include "third_party/widevine/cdm/widevine_cdm_common.h"  // nogncheck
 // TODO(crbug.com/663554): Needed for WIDEVINE_CDM_VERSION_STRING. Support
diff --git third_party/widevine/cdm/BUILD.gn third_party/widevine/cdm/BUILD.gn
index 18177ec2e536..dca927a726b9 100644
--- third_party/widevine/cdm/BUILD.gn
+++ third_party/widevine/cdm/BUILD.gn
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import("//build/buildflag_header.gni")
 import("//build/config/chrome_build.gni")
 import("//build/config/features.gni")
+import("//cef/libcef/features/features.gni")
 import("//media/cdm/library_cdm/cdm_paths.gni")
 import("//media/media_options.gni")
 import("//third_party/widevine/cdm/widevine.gni")
@@ -106,8 +107,6 @@ if (widevine_cdm_manifest_and_license_files != []) {
     ]
   }
 } else {
-  assert(!enable_widevine_cdm_component,
-         "Widevine as a component requires a manifest.")
   group("widevine_cdm_manifest_and_license") {
     # NOP
   }