diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index e323e3dfa1..e3569b1188 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ check_for_autogen_files(${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR})
 # compiler tests
 # these need ot be done early (before further tests).
 #####################################################################
-include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
 include(CheckIncludeFileCXX)
 
 # set required compiler flags and compiler/CPU arch specific optimizations
@@ -83,15 +82,6 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
 
-# GNU compiler specific features for testing
-if (${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "GNU")
-  option(ENABLE_COVERAGE "Enable collecting code coverage data" OFF)
-  mark_as_advanced(ENABLE_COVERAGE)
-  if(ENABLE_COVERAGE)
-    set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} --coverage")
-  endif()
-endif()
-
 ########################################################################
 # User input options                                                   #
 ########################################################################
@@ -248,6 +238,28 @@ if(BUILD_OMP)
   target_link_libraries(lammps PRIVATE OpenMP::OpenMP_CXX)
 endif()
 
+# Compiler specific features for testing
+if(${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "GNU")
+  option(ENABLE_COVERAGE "Enable collecting code coverage data" OFF)
+  mark_as_advanced(ENABLE_COVERAGE)
+  if(ENABLE_COVERAGE)
+    target_compile_options(lammps PUBLIC --coverage)
+    target_link_options(lammps PUBLIC --coverage)
+  endif()
+endif()
+if((${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "GNU") OR (${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "Clang"))
+  set(ENABLE_SANITIZER "none" CACHE STRING "Select a code sanitizer option (none (default), address, thread, undefined)")
+  mark_as_advanced(ENABLE_SANITIZER)
+  set(ENABLE_SANITIZER_VALUES none address thread undefined)
+  set_property(CACHE ENABLE_SANITIZER PROPERTY STRINGS ${ENABLE_SANITIZER_VALUES})
+  validate_option(ENABLE_SANITIZER ENABLE_SANITIZER_VALUES)
+  string(TOLOWER ${ENABLE_SANITIZER} ENABLE_SANITIZER)
+  if (NOT ENABLE_SANITIZER STREQUAL "none")
+    target_compile_options(lammps PUBLIC -fsanitize=${ENABLE_SANITIZER})
+    target_link_options(lammps PUBLIC -fsanitize=${ENABLE_SANITIZER})
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 if(PKG_MSCG OR PKG_USER-ATC OR PKG_USER-AWPMD OR PKG_USER-QUIP OR PKG_LATTE)
   enable_language(C)
   find_package(LAPACK)