diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 003dac85c..07c31d497 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -440,17 +440,6 @@ foreach(var INCLUDE_INSTALL_DIR CMAKEPACKAGE_INSTALL_DIR PKGCONFIG_INSTALL_DIR)
   endif()
 endforeach()
 
-# similar to set_target_properties but append the property instead of overwriting it
-macro(ei_add_target_property target prop value)
-
-  get_target_property(previous ${target} ${prop})
-  # if the property wasn't previously set, ${previous} is now "previous-NOTFOUND" which cmake allows catching with plain if()
-  if(NOT previous)
-    set(previous "")
-  endif()
-  set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES ${prop} "${previous} ${value}")
-endmacro()
-
 install(FILES
   signature_of_eigen3_matrix_library
   DESTINATION ${INCLUDE_INSTALL_DIR} COMPONENT Devel
diff --git a/cmake/EigenTesting.cmake b/cmake/EigenTesting.cmake
index a03f0f4b0..2bbe7d1ee 100644
--- a/cmake/EigenTesting.cmake
+++ b/cmake/EigenTesting.cmake
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ macro(ei_add_test_internal testname testname_with_suffix)
     set(is_gpu_test ON)
     if(EIGEN_TEST_HIP)
       hip_reset_flags()
-      hip_add_executable(${targetname} ${filename} HIPCC_OPTIONS "-DEIGEN_USE_HIP -std=c++14 ${ARGV2}")
+      hip_add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
+      target_compile_definitions(${targetname} PRVIATE -DEIGEN_USE_HIP)
+      target_compile_options(${targetname} PRVIATE -std=c++14)
     elseif(EIGEN_TEST_CUDA_CLANG)
       set_source_files_properties(${filename} PROPERTIES LANGUAGE CXX)
       
@@ -38,22 +40,14 @@ macro(ei_add_test_internal testname testname_with_suffix)
         link_directories("${CUDA_TOOLKIT_ROOT_DIR}/lib")
       endif()
 
-      if (${ARGC} GREATER 2)
-        add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
-      else()
-        add_executable(${targetname} ${filename} OPTIONS ${ARGV2})
-      endif()
+      add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
       set(CUDA_CLANG_LINK_LIBRARIES "cudart_static" "cuda" "dl" "pthread")
       if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
       set(CUDA_CLANG_LINK_LIBRARIES ${CUDA_CLANG_LINK_LIBRARIES} "rt")
       endif()
       target_link_libraries(${targetname} ${CUDA_CLANG_LINK_LIBRARIES})
     else()
-      if (${ARGC} GREATER 2)
-        cuda_add_executable(${targetname} ${filename} OPTIONS ${ARGV2})
-      else()
-        cuda_add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
-      endif()
+      cuda_add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
     endif()
   else()
     add_executable(${targetname} ${filename})
@@ -66,26 +60,26 @@ macro(ei_add_test_internal testname testname_with_suffix)
   endif()
 
   if(EIGEN_NO_ASSERTION_CHECKING)
-    ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "-DEIGEN_NO_ASSERTION_CHECKING=1")
+    target_compile_definitions(${targetname} PRIVATE EIGEN_NO_ASSERTION_CHECKING=1)
   else()
     if(EIGEN_DEBUG_ASSERTS)
-      ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "-DEIGEN_DEBUG_ASSERTS=1")
+      target_compile_definitions(${targetname} PRIVATE EIGEN_DEBUG_ASSERTS=1)
     endif()
   endif()
 
-  ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "-DEIGEN_TEST_MAX_SIZE=${EIGEN_TEST_MAX_SIZE}")
+  target_compile_definitions(${targetname} PRIVATE EIGEN_TEST_MAX_SIZE=${EIGEN_TEST_MAX_SIZE})
 
   if(MSVC)
-    ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "/bigobj")
+    target_compile_options(${targetname} PRIVATE "/bigobj")
   endif()
 
   # let the user pass flags.
   if(${ARGC} GREATER 2)
-    ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "${ARGV2}")
+    target_compile_options(${targetname} PRIVATE ${ARGV2})
   endif()
 
   if(EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS)
-    ei_add_target_property(${targetname} COMPILE_FLAGS "${EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS}")
+    target_compile_options(${targetname} PRIVATE "${EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS}")
   endif()
 
   if(EIGEN_STANDARD_LIBRARIES_TO_LINK_TO)
@@ -216,12 +210,13 @@ macro(ei_add_test testname)
   if( (EIGEN_SPLIT_LARGE_TESTS AND suffixes) OR explicit_suffixes)
     add_custom_target(${testname})
     foreach(suffix ${suffixes})
-      ei_add_test_internal(${testname} ${testname}_${suffix}
-        "${ARGV1} -DEIGEN_TEST_PART_${suffix}=1" "${ARGV2}")
+      ei_add_test_internal(${testname} ${testname}_${suffix} "${ARGV1}" "${ARGV2}")
       add_dependencies(${testname} ${testname}_${suffix})
+      target_compile_definitions(${testname}_${suffix} PRIVATE -DEIGEN_TEST_PART_${suffix}=1)
     endforeach()
   else()
-    ei_add_test_internal(${testname} ${testname} "${ARGV1} -DEIGEN_TEST_PART_ALL=1" "${ARGV2}")
+    ei_add_test_internal(${testname} ${testname} "${ARGV1}" "${ARGV2}")
+    target_compile_definitions(${testname} PRIVATE -DEIGEN_TEST_PART_ALL=1)
   endif()
 endmacro()
 
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index ad0959979..c41855a5d 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ else()
   endif()
 endif()
 
-ei_add_test(fastmath " ${EIGEN_FASTMATH_FLAGS} ")
+ei_add_test(fastmath "${EIGEN_FASTMATH_FLAGS}")
 
 # # ei_add_test(denseLM)