diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@
 # Link wolftpm library to wolfSSL.
 # PRIVATE so the wolftpm_wolfssl_dep INTERFACE helper does not become part
 # of wolftpm's export set (it is build-tree-only). Downstream consumers of
 # wolftpm should `find_package(wolfssl)` themselves before find_package(wolftpm).
 if(BUILD_WOLFTPM_LIB)
-    target_link_libraries(wolftpm PRIVATE wolftpm_wolfssl_dep)
+    target_link_libraries(wolftpm PRIVATE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:wolftpm_wolfssl_dep>)
 endif()