diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7998ec727..b0a522088 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -97,9 +97,9 @@ set_target_properties(${PROJECT_AWE_NAME}
     LINK_FLAGS -export-dynamic)
 
 target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_AWE_NAME}
-    ${AWESOME_COMMON_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES}
-    ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES}
-    ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LIBRARIES})
+    ${AWESOME_COMMON_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS}
+    ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS}
+    ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS})
 
 # atoms
 file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${BUILD_DIR}/common)
diff --git a/awesomeConfig.cmake b/awesomeConfig.cmake
index c083b1241..782404a3d 100644
--- a/awesomeConfig.cmake
+++ b/awesomeConfig.cmake
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ execute_process(
 # {{{ Required libraries
 #
 # this sets up:
-# AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES
+# AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS
 # AWESOME_REQUIRED_INCLUDE_DIRS
 
 # Use pkgconfig to get most of the libraries
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ if(NOT HAS_EXECINFO)
     find_library(LIB_EXECINFO execinfo)
     if(LIB_EXECINFO)
         set(HAS_EXECINFO 1)
-        set(AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES
-            ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES}
+        set(AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS
+            ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS}
             ${LIB_EXECINFO})
     endif()
 endif()
@@ -191,9 +191,9 @@ if(NOT LUA51_FOUND AND NOT LUA50_FOUND) # This is a workaround to a cmake bug
     message(FATAL_ERROR "lua library not found")
 endif()
 
-set(AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES
+set(AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS
     ${AWESOME_COMMON_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS}
-    ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES}
+    ${AWESOME_REQUIRED_LDFLAGS}
     ${LIB_EV}
     ${LUA_LIBRARIES})
 
@@ -206,13 +206,13 @@ set(AWESOME_REQUIRED_INCLUDE_DIRS
 # {{{ Optional libraries
 #
 # this sets up:
-# AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LIBRARIES
+# AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS
 # AWESOME_OPTIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS
 
 if(WITH_DBUS)
     pkg_check_modules(DBUS dbus-1)
     if(DBUS_FOUND)
-        set(AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LIBRARIES ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LIBRARIES} ${DBUS_LDFLAGS})
+        set(AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS} ${DBUS_LDFLAGS})
         set(AWESOME_OPTIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${DBUS_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     else()
         set(WITH_DBUS OFF)