diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 4771d19b51..3213da02db 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -188,9 +188,10 @@ if(BUILD_MPI)
     include(MPI4WIN)
     target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC LAMMPS::MPI)
   else()
+    set(MPI_CXX_SKIP_MPICXX ON)
     find_package(MPI REQUIRED)
-    target_compile_definitions(lammps PRIVATE -DMPICH_SKIP_MPICXX -DOMPI_SKIP_MPICXX=1)
     target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC MPI::MPI_CXX)
+    set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES IMPORTED_GLOBAL TRUE)
     add_library(LAMMPS::MPI ALIAS MPI::MPI_CXX)
     option(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG "Workaround if your system or MPI version does not recognize 'long long' data types" OFF)
     if(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)