diff --git a/cmake/cxx.cmake b/cmake/cxx.cmake
index 5ca83887..128b12ca 100644
--- a/cmake/cxx.cmake
+++ b/cmake/cxx.cmake
@@ -99,8 +99,13 @@ elseif (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE_UPPER STREQUAL "COVERAGE")
   list(APPEND cxx_flags ${cxx_coverage})
 endif()
 
+list(APPEND cxx_linker_flags ${cxx_flags})
+
 string(REPLACE " " ";" polybar_flags_list "${POLYBAR_FLAGS}")
 list(APPEND cxx_flags ${polybar_flags_list})
 
 string(REPLACE ";" " " cxx_flags_str "${cxx_flags}")
 string(REPLACE ";" " " cxx_linker_flags_str "${cxx_linker_flags}")
+
+# TODO use target_link_options once min cmake version is >= 3.13
+set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${cxx_linker_flags_str}")
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d09d8ba7..d4022142 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -206,7 +206,6 @@ if(BUILD_LIBPOLY)
   endif()
 
   target_compile_options(poly PUBLIC ${cxx_flags})
-  target_link_options(poly PUBLIC ${cxx_linker_flags})
   set_target_properties(poly PROPERTIES ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/libs)
   # }}}
 
@@ -215,8 +214,7 @@ if(BUILD_LIBPOLY)
     add_executable(polybar main.cpp)
     target_link_libraries(polybar poly)
     target_compile_options(polybar PUBLIC ${cxx_flags})
-    target_link_options(polybar PUBLIC ${cxx_linker_flags})
-    set_target_properties(poly PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
+    set_target_properties(polybar PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
 
     install(TARGETS polybar
       DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
@@ -234,7 +232,6 @@ if(BUILD_POLYBAR_MSG)
     utils/string.cpp)
   target_include_directories(polybar-msg PRIVATE ${includes_dir})
   target_compile_options(polybar-msg PUBLIC ${cxx_flags})
-  target_link_options(polybar-msg PUBLIC ${cxx_linker_flags})
 
   install(TARGETS polybar-msg
     DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}