diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 49dbf5385..ed1cba4f9 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -94,6 +94,20 @@ else()
   ei_add_cxx_compiler_flag("-std=c++03")
 endif()
 
+function(ei_maybe_separate_arguments variable mode args)
+  # Use separate_arguments if the input is a single string containing a space.
+  # Otherwise, if it is already a list or doesn't have a space, just propagate
+  # the original value.  This is to better support multi-argument lists.
+  list(LENGTH args list_length)
+  if (${list_length} EQUAL 1)
+    string(FIND "${args}" " " has_space)
+    if (${has_space} GREATER -1)
+      separate_arguments(args ${mode} "${args}")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+  set(${variable} ${args} PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction(ei_maybe_separate_arguments)
+
 #############################################################################
 # find how to link to the standard libraries                                #
 #############################################################################
@@ -104,6 +118,10 @@ find_package(StandardMathLibrary)
 set(EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_LINKER_FLAGS  "" CACHE STRING "Additional linker flags when linking unit tests.")
 set(EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS     "" CACHE STRING "Additional compiler flags when compiling unit tests.")
 
+# Convert space-separated arguments into CMake lists for downstream consumption.
+ei_maybe_separate_arguments(EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_LINKER_FLAGS NATIVE_COMMAND "${EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_LINKER_FLAGS}")
+ei_maybe_separate_arguments(EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS NATIVE_COMMAND "${EIGEN_TEST_CUSTOM_CXX_FLAGS}")
+
 set(EIGEN_STANDARD_LIBRARIES_TO_LINK_TO "")
 
 if(NOT STANDARD_MATH_LIBRARY_FOUND)