diff --git a/CMake/curl-config.in.cmake b/CMake/curl-config.in.cmake
index ef2a64cc91..cd0d9bbe83 100644
--- a/CMake/curl-config.in.cmake
+++ b/CMake/curl-config.in.cmake
@@ -39,9 +39,19 @@ if("@USE_OPENSSL@")
   else()
     find_dependency(OpenSSL)
   endif()
+  if(TARGET OpenSSL::Crypto AND NOT TARGET CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto)
+    add_library(CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    get_target_property(_curl_libname OpenSSL::Crypto LOCATION)
+    set_target_properties(CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${_curl_libname}")
+  endif()
 endif()
 if("@HAVE_LIBZ@")
   find_dependency(ZLIB "@ZLIB_VERSION_MAJOR@")
+  if(TARGET ZLIB::ZLIB AND NOT TARGET CURL::ZLIB)
+    add_library(CURL::ZLIB INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    get_target_property(_curl_libname ZLIB::ZLIB LOCATION)
+    set_target_properties(CURL::ZLIB PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${_curl_libname}")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 set(_curl_cmake_module_path_save ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e2b93389ee..8827deac2c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1813,21 +1813,18 @@ endif()
 # before dependencies detected via curl's custom Find modules, and breaks
 # linkers sensitive to lib order. There must be a better solution to this.
 if(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
-  set(_libs "")
-  if(USE_OPENSSL)
-    list(APPEND _libs OpenSSL::Crypto)
+  if(USE_OPENSSL AND TARGET OpenSSL::Crypto)
+    add_library(CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    get_target_property(_curl_libname OpenSSL::Crypto LOCATION)
+    set_target_properties(CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${_curl_libname}")
+    list(APPEND CURL_LIBS CURL::OpenSSL_Crypto)
   endif()
-  if(HAVE_LIBZ)
-    list(APPEND _libs ZLIB::ZLIB)
+  if(HAVE_LIBZ AND TARGET ZLIB::ZLIB)
+    add_library(CURL::ZLIB INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    get_target_property(_curl_libname ZLIB::ZLIB LOCATION)
+    set_target_properties(CURL::ZLIB PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${_curl_libname}")
+    list(APPEND CURL_LIBS CURL::ZLIB)
   endif()
-  foreach(_lib IN LISTS _libs)
-    if(TARGET "${_lib}")
-      add_library(CURL::${_lib} INTERFACE IMPORTED)
-      get_target_property(_libname "${_lib}" LOCATION)
-      set_target_properties(${_lib} PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${_libname}")
-      list(APPEND CURL_LIBS ${_lib})
-    endif()
-  endforeach()
   if(WIN32)
     add_library(CURL::win32_winsock INTERFACE IMPORTED)
     set_target_properties(CURL::win32_winsock PROPERTIES INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "ws2_32")