diff --git a/llvm/cmake/modules/AddLLVM.cmake b/llvm/cmake/modules/AddLLVM.cmake
index 6b10e2c4cd54..cf8f29975e42 100644
--- a/llvm/cmake/modules/AddLLVM.cmake
+++ b/llvm/cmake/modules/AddLLVM.cmake
@@ -483,7 +483,8 @@ function(llvm_add_library name)
         "PUBLIC;PRIVATE"
         ${ARG_LINK_LIBS})
       foreach(link_lib ${LINK_LIBS_ARG_PUBLIC})
-        if(TARGET ${link_lib})
+        # Can't specify a dependence on -lpthread
+        if(NOT ${link_lib} MATCHES "-.*")
           add_dependencies(${obj_name} ${link_lib})
         endif()
       endforeach()