diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8ac535d..38f614a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ target_include_directories(valijson INTERFACE
         $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
         $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>)
 
+if(valijson_USE_EXCEPTIONS)
+    target_compile_definitions(valijson INTERFACE -DVALIJSON_USE_EXCEPTIONS=1)
+endif()
+
 install(DIRECTORY include/ DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR})
 
 install(TARGETS valijson
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 49b23a8..a2b3eb7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Note that Valijson's `SchemaParser` and `Validator` classes expect you to pass i
 ### Exceptions
 
 By default, Valijson classes will not throw exceptions (e.g. when failing to parse a schema). To enable exceptions for these cases, `VALIJSON_USE_EXCEPTIONS` must be defined.
+However note that `VALIJSON_USE_EXCEPTIONS` is defined as interface compile definition of the cmake target, and the definition populates all the targets linking Valijson with cmake.
 
 ### Strong vs Weak Types