diff --git a/src/nvim/CMakeLists.txt b/src/nvim/CMakeLists.txt
index f97d007768..8c05c6a2b2 100644
--- a/src/nvim/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/nvim/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 include(CheckLibraryExists)
 
+option(SANITIZE "Enable Clang sanitizers for nvim binary" OFF)
+if(SANITIZE AND NOT CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
+  message(WARNING "SANITIZE is only supported for Clang ... disabling")
+  set(SANITIZE OFF)
+endif()
+
 set(GENERATED_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/src/nvim/auto)
 set(DISPATCH_GENERATOR ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/msgpack-gen.lua)
 file(GLOB API_HEADERS api/*.h)
@@ -94,26 +100,15 @@ endforeach()
 set_source_files_properties(
   ${CONV_SOURCES} PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "${COMPILE_FLAGS} -Wno-conversion")
 
-option(SANITIZE "Enable sanitizers when using Clang" OFF)
-if(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
-  if(SANITIZE)
-    message(STATUS "Enabling the sanitizers")
-    add_definitions(-DEXITFREE) # is this necessary for LeakSanitizer?
-    add_definitions(-fno-sanitize-recover -fno-omit-frame-pointer
-      -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined)
-    set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS
-      "-fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined ${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS}")
-    set(CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS
-      "-fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined ${CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS}")
-  endif()
-endif()
-
 get_directory_property(gen_cdefs COMPILE_DEFINITIONS)
 foreach(gen_cdef ${gen_cdefs} DO_NOT_DEFINE_EMPTY_ATTRIBUTES)
   if(NOT "${gen_cdef}" MATCHES "INCLUDE_GENERATED_DECLARATIONS")
     list(APPEND gen_cflags "-D${gen_cdef}")
   endif()
 endforeach()
+if (SANITIZE)
+  list(APPEND gen_cflags "-DEXITFREE")
+endif()
 
 get_directory_property(gen_includes INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
 foreach(gen_include ${gen_includes})
@@ -206,6 +201,13 @@ add_executable(nvim ${NEOVIM_GENERATED_SOURCES} ${NEOVIM_SOURCES}
 target_link_libraries(nvim ${NVIM_LINK_LIBRARIES})
 install_helper(TARGETS nvim)
 
+if(SANITIZE)
+  message(STATUS "Enabling Clang sanitizers for nvim")
+  set_property(TARGET nvim APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS "-DEXITFREE ")
+  set_property(TARGET nvim APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS "-fno-sanitize-recover -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined ")
+  set_property(TARGET nvim APPEND_STRING PROPERTY LINK_FLAGS "-fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined ")
+endif()
+
 add_library(nvim-test MODULE EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ${NEOVIM_GENERATED_SOURCES}
     ${NEOVIM_SOURCES} ${NEOVIM_HEADERS})
 target_link_libraries(nvim-test ${NVIM_LINK_LIBRARIES})