diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 802e2ad9..1eb38f12 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,14 +21,8 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.0) # installing cereal requires INTERFACE li
 endif()
 
 
-set(CEREAL_THREAD_LIBS)
 if(UNIX)
     option(THREAD_SAFE "Use mutexes to ensure thread safety" OFF)
-    if(THREAD_SAFE)
-        message(STATUS "Use mutexes")
-        add_definitions(-DCEREAL_THREAD_SAFE=1)
-        set(CEREAL_THREAD_LIBS pthread)
-    endif()
 endif()
 
 
@@ -63,7 +57,11 @@ target_include_directories(cereal INTERFACE
     $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
     $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
 )
-list(APPEND CEREAL_THREAD_LIBS cereal::cereal)
+if(THREAD_SAFE)
+    message(STATUS "Use mutexes")
+    target_compile_definitions(cereal INTERFACE CEREAL_THREAD_SAFE=1)
+    target_link_libraries(cereal INTERFACE pthread)
+endif()
 
 if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.8)
     target_compile_features(cereal INTERFACE cxx_std_11)