diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5c4209bc..95ae6c77 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ endif()
 
 function(boost_json_setup_properties target)
     if(MSVC)
-        target_compile_features(${target} PRIVATE _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
+        target_compile_definitions(${target} PRIVATE _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
     endif()
     target_compile_features(${target} PUBLIC cxx_constexpr)
     target_compile_definitions(${target} PUBLIC BOOST_JSON_NO_LIB=1)