diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3ff8972..ca8b4fb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@ if (TINYMITM_TEST)
     set(TINYMITM_LOGS ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 endif()
 
-if (TINYMITM_LOGS)
-    add_compile_definitions(TINYMITM_LOGS)
-endif()
-
 # ---------------------
 # external dependencies
 # ---------------------
@@ -38,7 +34,7 @@ FetchContent_Declare(
 
 # seallib config
 set(SEALLIB_EVENTS ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
-if (TINYMITM_LOGS)
+if (TINYMITM_LOGS OR $CACHE{TINYMITM_LOGS})
     set(SEALLIB_LOG ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 endif()
 FetchContent_GetProperties(seallib)
@@ -81,6 +77,10 @@ target_link_libraries(tinymitm PRIVATE tinymitm-warnings)
 target_link_libraries(tinymitm PUBLIC seallib wolfssl)
 set_target_properties(tinymitm PROPERTIES CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
 
+if (TINYMITM_LOGS OR $CACHE{TINYMITM_LOGS})
+    target_compile_definitions(tinymitm PUBLIC TINYMITM_LOGS)
+endif()
+
 # ------------------------------
 # test
 # ------------------------------