diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorExpressionEvaluator.cxx b/Source/cmGeneratorExpressionEvaluator.cxx
index ddcc39d68d..db1d180eca 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorExpressionEvaluator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorExpressionEvaluator.cxx
@@ -841,6 +841,8 @@ getLinkedTargetsContent(
       context->HadContextSensitiveCondition = true;
       }
     }
+  linkedTargetsContent =
+    cmGeneratorExpression::StripEmptyListElements(linkedTargetsContent);
   return linkedTargetsContent;
 }
 
@@ -1100,9 +1102,6 @@ static const struct TargetPropertyNode : public cmGeneratorExpressionNode
         }
       }
 
-    linkedTargetsContent =
-          cmGeneratorExpression::StripEmptyListElements(linkedTargetsContent);
-
     if (!prop)
       {
       if (target->IsImported()