diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e40094e9d5c..623d9a6516a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ if(WITH_CORE)
       # keep casual users from updating their source tree via WITH_QSCIAPI
       mark_as_advanced (WITH_QSCIAPI)
     endif()
-    add_definitions(-DWITH_BINDINGS)
   endif()
 
   # server disabled default because it needs FastCGI (which is optional dependency)
diff --git a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
index b7addb01bf1..d464676a9a1 100644
--- a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@ target_link_libraries(qgis_app
 target_compile_definitions(qgis_app PRIVATE "-DQT_NO_FOREACH")
 
 if (WITH_BINDINGS)
+  add_definitions(-DWITH_BINDINGS)
   target_link_libraries(qgis_app qgispython)
 endif()