diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index e1b02e4c08f07..004be5292ca30 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ add_library(llama
             unicode-data.cpp
             )
 
-target_include_directories(llama PUBLIC . ../include ../common)
+target_include_directories(llama PRIVATE . ../include ../common)
 target_compile_features   (llama PUBLIC cxx_std_17) # don't bump
 
 target_link_libraries(llama PUBLIC ggml)