diff --git a/dlib/CMakeLists.txt b/dlib/CMakeLists.txt
index 04b5d92059..0d579e9ca6 100644
--- a/dlib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dlib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -278,8 +278,8 @@ if (NOT TARGET dlib)
 
    set(dlib_needed_public_libraries)
    set(dlib_needed_public_includes)
-   set(dlib_needed_public_cflags)
-   set(dlib_needed_public_ldflags)
+   set(dlib_needed_private_cflags)
+   set(dlib_needed_private_ldflags)
    set(dlib_needed_private_libraries)
    set(dlib_needed_private_includes)
 
@@ -575,8 +575,8 @@ if (NOT TARGET dlib)
          if (JXL_FOUND)
             list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_includes ${JXL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
             list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_libraries ${JXL_LIBRARIES})
-            list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_cflags ${JXL_CFLAGS})
-            list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_ldflags ${JXL_LDFLAGS})
+            list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_cflags ${JXL_CFLAGS})
+            list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_ldflags ${JXL_LDFLAGS})
             set(source_files ${source_files}
                image_loader/jxl_loader.cpp
                image_saver/save_jxl.cpp
@@ -752,8 +752,8 @@ if (NOT TARGET dlib)
          if (FFMPEG_FOUND)
             list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_includes ${FFMPEG_INCLUDE_DIRS})
             list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_libraries ${FFMPEG_LINK_LIBRARIES})
-            list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_cflags ${FFMPEG_CFLAGS})
-            list (APPEND dlib_needed_public_ldflags ${FFMPEG_LDFLAGS})
+            list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_cflags ${FFMPEG_CFLAGS})
+            list (APPEND dlib_needed_private_ldflags ${FFMPEG_LDFLAGS})
             enable_preprocessor_switch(DLIB_USE_FFMPEG)
          else()
             set(DLIB_USE_FFMPEG OFF CACHE BOOL ${DLIB_USE_FFMPEG_STR} FORCE )
@@ -773,9 +773,9 @@ if (NOT TARGET dlib)
       PUBLIC ${dlib_needed_public_includes}
       PRIVATE ${dlib_needed_private_includes}
       )
-   target_link_libraries(dlib PUBLIC ${dlib_needed_public_libraries} ${dlib_needed_public_ldflags})
-   target_link_libraries(dlib PRIVATE ${dlib_needed_private_libraries})
-   target_compile_options(dlib PUBLIC ${dlib_needed_public_cflags})
+   target_link_libraries(dlib PUBLIC ${dlib_needed_public_libraries})
+   target_link_libraries(dlib PRIVATE ${dlib_needed_private_libraries} ${dlib_needed_private_ldflags})
+   target_compile_options(dlib PRIVATE ${dlib_needed_private_cflags})
    if (DLIB_IN_PROJECT_BUILD)
       target_compile_options(dlib PUBLIC ${active_preprocessor_switches})
    else()
@@ -806,13 +806,7 @@ if (NOT TARGET dlib)
    endif()
 
    target_compile_features(dlib PUBLIC cxx_std_14)
-   if((MSVC AND CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.11))
-      target_compile_options(dlib PUBLIC ${active_compile_opts})
-      target_compile_options(dlib PRIVATE ${active_compile_opts_private})
-   else()
-      target_compile_options(dlib PUBLIC $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:${active_compile_opts}>)
-      target_compile_options(dlib PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:${active_compile_opts_private}>)
-   endif()
+   target_compile_options(dlib PRIVATE ${active_compile_opts})
 
    # Install the library
    if (NOT DLIB_IN_PROJECT_BUILD)
diff --git a/dlib/cmake_utils/set_compiler_specific_options.cmake b/dlib/cmake_utils/set_compiler_specific_options.cmake
index 6e2682da08..07fff950c3 100644
--- a/dlib/cmake_utils/set_compiler_specific_options.cmake
+++ b/dlib/cmake_utils/set_compiler_specific_options.cmake
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ if (MSVC)
    # Build dlib with all cores.  Don't propagate the setting to client programs
    # though since they might compile large translation units that use too much
    # RAM.
-   list(APPEND active_compile_opts_private "/MP")
+   list(APPEND active_compile_opts "/MP")
 
    if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang" AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.3) 
       # Clang can compile all Dlib's code at Windows platform. Tested with Clang 5