diff --git a/src/cmake/compiler.cmake b/src/cmake/compiler.cmake
index 434541d0a8..ddd6f99034 100644
--- a/src/cmake/compiler.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/compiler.cmake
@@ -420,6 +420,16 @@ if (CODECOV AND (CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC OR CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_CLANG))
 endif ()
 
 
+###########################################################################
+# Profiling
+#
+set_cache (PROFILER "" "Build executables with profiler support (choices: gperftools)")
+if (PROFILER STREQUAL "gperftools")
+    find_library(PROFILER_LIBRARIES NAMES profiler)
+    message (STATUS "Compiling for profiling with ${PROFILER}, found ${PROFILER_LIBRARIES}")
+endif ()
+
+
 ###########################################################################
 # Sanitizer options
 #
diff --git a/src/cmake/fancy_add_executable.cmake b/src/cmake/fancy_add_executable.cmake
index ae3729f2f6..d517370ea9 100644
--- a/src/cmake/fancy_add_executable.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/fancy_add_executable.cmake
@@ -44,19 +44,14 @@ macro (fancy_add_executable)
     check_is_enabled (${_target_NAME} _target_NAME_enabled)
     if (_target_NAME_enabled)
         add_executable (${_target_NAME} ${_target_SRC})
-        if (_target_INCLUDE_DIRS)
-            target_include_directories (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE ${_target_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-        endif ()
-        if (_target_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRS)
-            target_include_directories (${_target_NAME} SYSTEM PRIVATE ${_target_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-        endif ()
+        target_include_directories (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE ${_target_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+        target_include_directories (${_target_NAME} SYSTEM PRIVATE ${_target_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
         target_compile_definitions (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE
                                         ${_target_DEFINITIONS})
         target_compile_options (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE
                                     ${_target_COMPILE_OPTIONS})
-        if (_target_LINK_LIBRARIES)
-            target_link_libraries (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE ${_target_LINK_LIBRARIES})
-        endif ()
+        target_link_libraries (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE ${_target_LINK_LIBRARIES})
+        target_link_libraries (${_target_NAME} PRIVATE ${PROFILER_LIBRARIES})
         set_target_properties (${_target_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER ${_target_FOLDER})
         check_is_enabled (INSTALL_${_target_NAME} _target_NAME_INSTALL_enabled)
         if (CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD AND UNITY_BUILD_MODE STREQUAL GROUP)