diff --git a/Source/cmTargetLinkLibrariesCommand.cxx b/Source/cmTargetLinkLibrariesCommand.cxx
index 5c7b95cb1c..3883b52286 100644
--- a/Source/cmTargetLinkLibrariesCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmTargetLinkLibrariesCommand.cxx
@@ -456,8 +456,8 @@ bool cmTargetLinkLibrariesCommand::HandleLibrary(const std::string& lib,
         this->Target->GetType() == cmStateEnums::OBJECT_LIBRARY) {
       std::string configLib =
         this->Target->GetDebugGeneratorExpressions(libRef, llt);
-      if (cmGeneratorExpression::IsValidTargetName(libRef) ||
-          cmGeneratorExpression::Find(libRef) != std::string::npos) {
+      if (cmGeneratorExpression::IsValidTargetName(lib) ||
+          cmGeneratorExpression::Find(lib) != std::string::npos) {
         configLib = "$<LINK_ONLY:" + configLib + ">";
       }
       this->Target->AppendProperty("INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES",
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
index 85ce1f7853..5c704ac83b 100644
--- a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -134,11 +134,15 @@ assert_property(newsignature1 LINK_LIBRARIES "depC;depB;subdirlib")
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Test cross-directory linking.
 cmake_policy(PUSH)
+cmake_policy(SET CMP0022 NEW)
 cmake_policy(SET CMP0079 NEW)
 add_executable(TopDir TopDir.c)
 add_subdirectory(SubDirA)
 add_subdirectory(SubDirB)
 target_link_libraries(SubDirB TopDirImported)
+add_subdirectory(SubDirC)
+target_link_libraries(SubDirC PRIVATE SubDirC2)
+target_link_libraries(TopDir SubDirC)
 add_library(TopDirImported IMPORTED INTERFACE)
 target_compile_definitions(TopDirImported INTERFACE DEF_TopDirImported)
 cmake_policy(POP)
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54bcc5174c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+add_library(SubDirC STATIC SubDirC.c)
+
+add_library(SubDirC1 INTERFACE)
+target_compile_definitions(SubDirC1 INTERFACE DEF_SubDirC1)
+
+add_library(SubDirC2 INTERFACE)
+target_compile_definitions(SubDirC2 INTERFACE DEF_SubDirC2)
+
+target_link_libraries(SubDirC PRIVATE SubDirC1)
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/SubDirC.c b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/SubDirC.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5536dccd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/SubDirC/SubDirC.c
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#ifndef DEF_SubDirC1
+#  error "DEF_SubDirC1 not defined"
+#endif
+#ifndef DEF_SubDirC2
+#  error "DEF_SubDirC2 not defined"
+#endif
+
+int SubDirC(void)
+{
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/TopDir.c b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/TopDir.c
index 4706bb94e4..d8066e5cae 100644
--- a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/TopDir.c
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/TopDir.c
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
 #ifdef DEF_TopDirImported
 #  error "DEF_TopDirImported is defined but should not be!"
 #endif
+#ifdef DEF_SubDirC1
+#  error "DEF_SubDirC1 defined but should not be"
+#endif
+#ifdef DEF_SubDirC2
+#  error "DEF_SubDirC2 defined but should not be"
+#endif
 
 int main(void)
 {