diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index e7ec12ecae..43aca1dbe2 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ if(USD_SUPPORT)
     set(USD_LIBRARIES pxr::USD)
 endif(USD_SUPPORT)
 
+set(ROCKSDB_LIBRARIES "")
 if (WITH_ROCKSDB)
     # Temporaily mess with CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_PREFER_CONFIG to help RocksDB
     # find it's zstd dependency on Windows.
@@ -246,9 +247,11 @@ if (WITH_ROCKSDB)
     endif()
 
     message(STATUS "RocksDB: found at '${RocksDB_DIR}'.")
-    add_definitions(-DIFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
+    add_library(IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB INTERFACE)
+    set(ROCKSDB_LIBRARIES "IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB")
+    target_compile_definitions(IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB INTERFACE IFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
     set(SWIG_DEFINES ${SWIG_DEFINES} -DIFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
-    link_libraries($<IF:$<TARGET_EXISTS:RocksDB::rocksdb-shared>,RocksDB::rocksdb-shared,RocksDB::rocksdb>)
+    target_link_libraries(IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB INTERFACE $<IF:$<TARGET_EXISTS:RocksDB::rocksdb-shared>,RocksDB::rocksdb-shared,RocksDB::rocksdb>)
 
     if (WITH_ZSTD)
         # @todo do we actually need the zstd include dir or rather just pass
@@ -257,8 +260,11 @@ if (WITH_ROCKSDB)
         find_package(zstd CONFIG REQUIRED)
         mark_as_advanced(zstd_DIR)
         message(STATUS "zstd: found at '${zstd_DIR}'.")
-        link_libraries(zstd::libzstd_static)
+        target_link_libraries(IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB INTERFACE zstd::libzstd_static)
     endif()
+
+    install(TARGETS IFCOPENSHELL_RocksDB
+        EXPORT ${IFCOPENSHELL_EXPORT_TARGETS})
 endif()
 
 # Find Boost: On win32 the (hardcoded) default is to use static libraries and
diff --git a/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index 765b93cedd..83b546e59b 100644
--- a/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ if(STANDALONE_PROJECT OR SCHEMA_VERSIONS MATCHES "2x3")
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples IfcOpenShell::IfcParse)
         target_compile_features(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE cxx_std_17)
-        target_compile_definitions(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3 IFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
+        target_compile_definitions(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3)
     else()
         target_include_directories(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../src")
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples IfcParse)
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ if(STANDALONE_PROJECT OR SCHEMA_VERSIONS MATCHES "2x3")
                 INTERFACE ${OpenCASCADE_LIBRARIES} RocksDB::rocksdb
                 IfcOpenShell::IfcParse IfcOpenShell::geometry_serializer
             )
-            target_compile_definitions(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3 IFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
+            target_compile_definitions(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3)
         else()
             target_include_directories(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../src")
             target_link_libraries(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE ${IFCOPENSHELL_LIBRARIES} ${OpenCASCADE_LIBRARIES})
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ if(STANDALONE_PROJECT OR SCHEMA_VERSIONS MATCHES "4x3_add2")
 
     if(STANDALONE_PROJECT)
         target_include_directories(IfcAlignmentInterface INTERFACE ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-        target_compile_definitions(IfcAlignmentInterface INTERFACE HAS_SCHEMA_4x3_add2 IFOPSH_WITH_ROCKSDB)
+        target_compile_definitions(IfcAlignmentInterface INTERFACE HAS_SCHEMA_4x3_add2)
         target_link_libraries(IfcAlignment PRIVATE IfcOpenShell::IfcParse)
         target_link_libraries(IfcSimplifiedAlignment PRIVATE IfcOpenShell::IfcParse)
     else()
diff --git a/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt b/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt
index ec27ba85c9..d78b4bd5b5 100644
--- a/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ else()
     target_link_libraries(IfcParse ${Boost_LIBRARIES} ${BCRYPT_LIBRARIES})
 endif()
 
+target_link_libraries(IfcParse ${ROCKSDB_LIBRARIES})
 
 install(TARGETS IfcParse
     EXPORT ${IFCOPENSHELL_EXPORT_TARGETS}