diff --git a/src/cmake/externalpackages.cmake b/src/cmake/externalpackages.cmake
index f8cd9c1d61..4d6a401d49 100644
--- a/src/cmake/externalpackages.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/externalpackages.cmake
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ macro (find_or_download_fmt)
         set (OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL TRUE)
         set (fmt_VERSION ${BUILD_FMT_VERSION})
     else ()
-        get_target_property(FMT_INCLUDE_DIR fmt::fmt INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
+        get_target_property(FMT_INCLUDE_DIR fmt::fmt-header-only INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
         set (OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL FALSE)
         checked_find_package (fmt REQUIRED
                               VERSION_MIN 7.0)
diff --git a/src/include/CMakeLists.txt b/src/include/CMakeLists.txt
index 7dd17b8fd5..98ba2dc246 100644
--- a/src/include/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/include/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -86,8 +86,7 @@ if (INTERNALIZE_FMT OR OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL)
                             ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy
                             ${fmt_headers}
                             ${fmt_internal_directory})
-    add_custom_target (fmt_internal DEPENDS ${fmt_headers_internal})
-    set(fmt_target fmt_internal)
+    add_custom_target (fmt_internal_target DEPENDS ${fmt_headers_internal})
 else ()
     set (fmt_headers
          ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include/OpenImageIO/detail/fmt/format.h
@@ -102,7 +101,6 @@ else ()
         file (WRITE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include/OpenImageIO/detail/fmt/std.h"
                     "#include <fmt/std.h>")
     endif ()
-    set(fmt_target fmt::fmt)
 endif ()
 install (FILES ${fmt_headers}
          DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}/detail/fmt
diff --git a/src/libOpenImageIO/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libOpenImageIO/CMakeLists.txt
index f194af6a87..472adeae10 100644
--- a/src/libOpenImageIO/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libOpenImageIO/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO
             OpenImageIO_Util
             ${OPENIMAGEIO_IMATH_DEPENDENCY_VISIBILITY}
             ${OPENIMAGEIO_IMATH_TARGETS}
-            ${fmt_target}
         PRIVATE
             ${OPENIMAGEIO_OPENEXR_TARGETS}
             ${OpenCV_LIBRARIES}
@@ -170,7 +169,12 @@ if (MINGW)
     target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO PRIVATE ws2_32)
 endif()
 
-
+if (INTERNALIZE_FMT OR OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL)
+    add_dependencies(OpenImageIO_Util fmt_internal_target)
+else ()
+    target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO_Util
+                           PUBLIC fmt::fmt-header-only)
+endif ()
 
 file (GLOB iba_sources "imagebufalgo_*.cpp")
 if (MSVC)
diff --git a/src/libutil/CMakeLists.txt b/src/libutil/CMakeLists.txt
index 60a095c39e..f873b3eede 100644
--- a/src/libutil/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/libutil/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO_Util
             ${GCC_ATOMIC_LIBRARIES}
             ${OPENIMAGEIO_IMATH_DEPENDENCY_VISIBILITY}
             ${OPENIMAGEIO_IMATH_TARGETS}
-            ${fmt_target}
         PRIVATE
             $<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:Boost::filesystem>
             $<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:Boost::thread>
@@ -28,11 +27,11 @@ target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO_Util
             ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
         )
 
-if (NOT OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL)
-    target_include_directories (OpenImageIO_Util
-                                PUBLIC ${FMT_INCLUDES} )
+if (INTERNALIZE_FMT OR OIIO_USING_FMT_LOCAL)
+    add_dependencies(OpenImageIO_Util fmt_internal_target)
+else ()
     target_link_libraries (OpenImageIO_Util
-                           PUBLIC $<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:fmt::fmt> )
+                           PUBLIC fmt::fmt-header-only)
 endif ()
 
 if (WIN32)