diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e0feabc..cba7670 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ function(use_townengine target sources output_directory)
                 # launcher binary, loads game and engine shared library
                 add_executable(${target} ${TWN_ROOT_DIR}/src/twn_main.c)
 
-                target_compile_options(${target} PRIVATE $<$<BOOL:${LINUX}>:-Wl,-rpath,$ORIGIN/>)
+                target_link_options(${target} PRIVATE $<$<BOOL:${LINUX}>:-Wl,-rpath,$ORIGIN/>)
 
                 # todo: copy instead?
                 # put libtownengine.so alongside the binary