diff --git a/source/MaterialXRender/CMakeLists.txt b/source/MaterialXRender/CMakeLists.txt
index 22a9f55900..130cbd190c 100644
--- a/source/MaterialXRender/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/MaterialXRender/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,5 +29,5 @@ if(MATERIALX_BUILD_OIIO)
     set(OPENIMAGEIO_ROOT_DIR ${MATERIALX_OIIO_DIR})
     list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/External/OpenImageIO")
     find_package(OpenImageIO CONFIG REQUIRED)
-    target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} OpenImageIO::OpenImageIO OpenImageIO::OpenImageIO_Util)
+    target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE OpenImageIO::OpenImageIO OpenImageIO::OpenImageIO_Util)
 endif()