diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
     remove_definitions(-DQT_STRICT_ITERATORS)
 endif()
 
-add_definitions(-DTRANSLATION_DOMAIN=\"ki18n5\")
 if (IS_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/po")
     ki18n_install(po)
 endif()
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 target_link_libraries(KF5I18n PUBLIC Qt5::Core)
 # This is only required for platforms which don't use glibc (with glibc LibIntl_LIBRARIES will be empty)
 target_link_libraries(KF5I18n PRIVATE ${LibIntl_LIBRARIES})
-
+target_compile_options(KF5I18n PRIVATE -DTRANSLATION_DOMAIN=\"ki18n5\")
 
 set_target_properties(KF5I18n PROPERTIES VERSION   ${KI18N_VERSION_STRING}
                                          SOVERSION ${KI18N_SOVERSION}