diff --git a/build/cmake/functions.cmake b/build/cmake/functions.cmake
index c08b5fd3fd..3a43aa07ef 100644
--- a/build/cmake/functions.cmake
+++ b/build/cmake/functions.cmake
@@ -500,18 +500,15 @@ macro(wx_lib_include_directories name)
     endif()
 endmacro()
 
-# wx_lib_compile_definitions(name [])
+# wx_lib_compile_definitions(name defs)
 # Forwards everything to target_compile_definitions() except for monolithic
 # build where it collects all definitions for linking with the mono lib
 macro(wx_lib_compile_definitions name)
     if(wxBUILD_MONOLITHIC)
-        cmake_parse_arguments(_LIB_DEFINITIONS "" "" "PUBLIC;PRIVATE" ${ARGN})
-        list(APPEND wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PUBLIC ${_LIB_DEFINITIONS_PUBLIC})
-        list(APPEND wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PRIVATE ${_LIB_DEFINITIONS_PRIVATE})
-        set(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PUBLIC ${wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PUBLIC} PARENT_SCOPE)
-        set(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PRIVATE ${wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_PRIVATE} PARENT_SCOPE)
+        list(APPEND wxMONO_DEFINITIONS ${ARGN})
+        set(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS ${wxMONO_DEFINITIONS} PARENT_SCOPE)
     else()
-        target_compile_definitions(${name};${ARGN})
+        target_compile_definitions(${name} PRIVATE ${ARGN})
     endif()
 endmacro()
 
diff --git a/build/cmake/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/build/cmake/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index b37d23fdb9..9fc8b1842a 100644
--- a/build/cmake/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/build/cmake/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ if(wxBUILD_MONOLITHIC)
     set(wxMONO_LIBS_PRIVATE)
     set(wxMONO_LIBS_PUBLIC)
     set(wxMONO_INCLUDE_DIRS)
+    set(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS)
     set(wxMONO_NONCOMPILED_CPP_FILES)
 endif()
 
@@ -84,13 +85,13 @@ if(wxBUILD_MONOLITHIC)
 
             target_link_libraries(wxmono ${vis} ${wxMONO_LIBS_${vis}})
         endif()
-        if(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_${vis})
-            target_compile_definitions(wxmono ${vis} ${wxMONO_DEFINITIONS_${vis}})
-        endif()
     endforeach()
     if(wxMONO_INCLUDE_DIRS)
         target_include_directories(wxmono BEFORE PRIVATE ${wxMONO_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     endif()
+    if(wxMONO_DEFINITIONS)
+        target_compile_definitions(wxmono PRIVATE ${wxMONO_DEFINITIONS})
+    endif()
     foreach(file ${wxMONO_NONCOMPILED_CPP_FILES})
         set_source_files_properties(${file} PROPERTIES HEADER_FILE_ONLY TRUE)
     endforeach()
diff --git a/build/cmake/lib/stc/CMakeLists.txt b/build/cmake/lib/stc/CMakeLists.txt
index 7a16a6047a..609b229c77 100644
--- a/build/cmake/lib/stc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/build/cmake/lib/stc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ target_include_directories(wxscintilla PRIVATE
     ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/src/stc/scintilla/lexlib
     ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/src/stc/scintilla/src
     )
-target_compile_definitions(wxscintilla PUBLIC
+target_compile_definitions(wxscintilla PRIVATE
     NO_CXX11_REGEX
     __WX__
     SCI_LEXER
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ wx_lib_include_directories(wxstc
     ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/src/stc/scintilla/lexlib
     ${wxSOURCE_DIR}/src/stc/scintilla/src
     )
-wx_lib_compile_definitions(wxstc PRIVATE
+wx_lib_compile_definitions(wxstc
     NO_CXX11_REGEX
     __WX__
     SCI_LEXER