diff --git a/ext/src/http/client/curl/CMakeLists.txt b/ext/src/http/client/curl/CMakeLists.txt
index 424f649f1a..11db650176 100644
--- a/ext/src/http/client/curl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ext/src/http/client/curl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ if(CURL_FOUND)
 
   if(TARGET CURL::libcurl)
     target_link_libraries(opentelemetry_http_client_curl
-                          PUBLIC opentelemetry_ext CURL::libcurl)
+                          PUBLIC opentelemetry_ext
+                          PRIVATE CURL::libcurl)
   else()
     target_include_directories(opentelemetry_http_client_curl
                                INTERFACE "${CURL_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
     target_link_libraries(opentelemetry_http_client_curl
-                          PUBLIC opentelemetry_ext ${CURL_LIBRARIES})
+                          PUBLIC opentelemetry_ext
+                          PRIVATE ${CURL_LIBRARIES})
   endif()
 
   install(