diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 43aca1dbe2..f1c7e50118 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -464,12 +464,13 @@ endif()
 
 message(STATUS "IFC SCHEMA_VERSIONS that will be used for the build: ${SCHEMA_VERSIONS}.")
 
+set(SCHEMA_DEFINITIONS "")
 foreach(schema ${SCHEMA_VERSIONS})
-    add_definitions(-DHAS_SCHEMA_${schema})
+    list(APPEND SCHEMA_DEFINITIONS "-DHAS_SCHEMA_${schema}")
 endforeach()
 
 string(REPLACE ";" ")(" schema_version_seq "(${SCHEMA_VERSIONS})")
-add_definitions(-DSCHEMA_SEQ=${schema_version_seq})
+list(APPEND SCHEMA_DEFINITIONS "-DSCHEMA_SEQ=${schema_version_seq}")
 
 if(COMPILE_SCHEMA)
     # @todo, this appears to be untested at the moment
diff --git a/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index 83b546e59b..c50c899ea9 100644
--- a/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ if(STANDALONE_PROJECT OR SCHEMA_VERSIONS MATCHES "2x3")
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples IfcOpenShell::IfcParse)
         target_compile_features(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE cxx_std_17)
-        target_compile_definitions(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3)
     else()
         target_include_directories(IfcParseExamples PRIVATE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../src")
         target_link_libraries(IfcParseExamples IfcParse)
@@ -73,7 +72,6 @@ if(STANDALONE_PROJECT OR SCHEMA_VERSIONS MATCHES "2x3")
                 INTERFACE ${OpenCASCADE_LIBRARIES} RocksDB::rocksdb
                 IfcOpenShell::IfcParse IfcOpenShell::geometry_serializer
             )
-            target_compile_definitions(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE "SCHEMA_SEQ=(2x3)" HAS_SCHEMA_2x3)
         else()
             target_include_directories(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../src")
             target_link_libraries(IfcHouseInterface INTERFACE ${IFCOPENSHELL_LIBRARIES} ${OpenCASCADE_LIBRARIES})
@@ -93,7 +91,6 @@ 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)
         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 d78b4bd5b5..5da3182406 100644
--- a/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/ifcparse/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ endforeach()
 set(IFCPARSE_FILES ${IFCPARSE_CPP_FILES} ${IFCPARSE_H_FILES})
 
 add_library(IfcParse ${IFCPARSE_FILES})
+target_compile_definitions(IfcParse PUBLIC ${SCHEMA_DEFINITIONS})
 target_include_directories(IfcParse PUBLIC $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>)
 set_target_properties(IfcParse
     PROPERTIES